


Table Number 37

by DestinyxDarkness



Series: Short, But Lemony Sweet [1]
Category: Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (Cartoon)
Genre: Blackmail, Bullying, Coming Out, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Feelings Realization, Gay Male Character, Homophobia, M/M, Personal Canon, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Sad with a Happy Ending, Self-Acceptance, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:55:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23423533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DestinyxDarkness/pseuds/DestinyxDarkness
Summary: Buzz Lightyear does not take holidays; everyone within Star Command knows this. Even so, Commander Nebula insists that he needs to take regular holidays to keep up his mental health... And Buzz begrudgingly agreed, especially when the Commander proceeded to remind him of Section 15; Subsection Foxtrot of the regulations within the Space Ranger Mission Manual, which dictates that rangers have to take mandatory breaks.Due to his lack of... Well, experience with being sent on holiday leave, Buzz begins to try various things to wile away the time. One of which is to go walking, which eventually leads him to a nearby bar that had opened somewhere in the middle of town.It was supposed to be nothing more than a casual visit, figuring out the atmosphere behind the place. He wasn't expecting... Him, to be there.
Relationships: Warp Darkmatter/Buzz Lightyear
Series: Short, But Lemony Sweet [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1684963
Comments: 9
Kudos: 17





	1. Buzz Lightyear, Personal Log: Target in Sight

"Ah, another successful mission" Buzz happily announced, his hands confidently steering Star Cruiser number 7 back toward Star Command. It was his five hundred and eighty-fifth consecutive completed mission in a row (not that he was counting, mind you. He would deny it heavily if someone were to ask him that), but even as he was returning along with his team, he couldn't wait to get back to some other task. "Come on team! There are probably a number of other missions to get done when we return"

"Craters Buzz, do you ever take a break?" Mira, one of his younger team members sighed at the prospect of heading out so suddenly after coming from their completed one. In contrast to her leader, she most certainly was not keen on doing more, especially when five of those five hundred and eighty five missions of Buzz’s had been within the span of eight hours in that very same solar day.

"Buzz doesn't need a break! He's been completely good since his last holiday!" Booster, as eager and fanatical in his admiration for Buzz, did seem to present a slight worry within the other team members when he had mentioned it. After all, the last time Buzz had been forced to take a holiday was purely against his will; when he and Warp Darkmatter discovered that they had been implanted with tracking chips from their time in the academy. "It's only been... About... Four hundred and thirty-six days since then?"

...That was at least a solar year. Which meant that he had been breaching Section 15; Subsection Alpha within the Space Ranger Manual for around at least six solar months.

"Keep this a secret from Commander Nebula for me, would you?" Buzz felt dirty to be asking them that, as not only was it morally questionable; it was yet again another breach of the manual (Section 2; Subsection Beta, to be specific). In his eyes it was nothing more than being akin to lying about putting your hand in the cookie jar, rather than a big problem such as working with the Evil Emperor Zurg. Unfortunately for him, XR had been distracted during their conversation, which foiled the beginnings of Buzz's plan.

"Uh... Is now a bad time to mention that Commander Nebula has been listening in for three solar minutes?" XR asked the rest of his team, gesturing over to the massive screen that had lowered in front of their faces; with the angry gaze of Commander Nebula fixed directly on Buzz within his pilot's chair. Truthfully, the other three _should_ have noticed it, but you could say that they were the kind of people to have tunnel vision in the best of times.

It was moments like these that reminded Buzz of his academy days, attempting to wriggle backwards and hide within his seat when he had been caught breaking the rules. It wasn't as if it was a common occurrence, far from it! But it was precisely _because_ it was so rare of him to break the rules, that he truly felt horrible when he would be caught in those rare moments.

" _...Huh, how strange that my mind goes back to the academy"_ Buzz thought to himself, as generally those memories stayed safely buried within his mind. He preferred to remember the happy times of it, rather than actually digging into them and realising that it was the start of... Of the reason why he and his former partner were no longer working together. The good memories would soon be tainted with his mind thinking about how much of his best friend that he had truly seen, whether it all was a lie, whether he could have saved him if he had just paid that bit more attention... And he was doing it again; right up until Commander Nebula's booming voice broke his concentration.

"LIGHTYEAR! Did I just hear Munchapper correctly say that you have been breaching rules AGAIN?!" Commander Nebula had that way of yelling at people like he did, reminding people both sharply of a military and an odd extra element of a strict father. The problem was, the fatherly side of him only ever reared its head during the moments that the recipient of the yelling truly deserved the telling off; reminding them with that disappointed tone in his voice that they should have known better. It made it that much worse, often making the guilt sink deeper in your gut until you spilled all of your secrets. He wasn't a well-known interrogator for nothing after all.

"Now sir, I wasn't doing it intentionally, I just..." Buzz found himself grasping at metaphorical straws for a good reason to not have to go on shore leave. He precisely did not want to go on shore leave, it was the entire reason why he hadn't taken it for such a long time since the last one (and that wasn't even including the fact that that time was _also_ forced upon him because of the circumstances). If anyone in the universe could have been given the title of being "married to their work", then Buzz truly was the one. But while he did have sheer determination as usual, Buzz did not have a good excuse. "...I feel fine, truthfully"

"GO ON SHORE LEAVE YOU NIMROD!!"

* * *

Five solar hours later, Buzz was situated at his home, haughtily sighing as he entered his home. Not only had the Commander once again forced him on shore leave, but he had forced him to leave behind his uniform just as it had been the previous time.

Unfortunately, that meant that Buzz could easily predict what was going to happen shortly afterwards. He would be initially excited to get things done around the house, the robots situated all around the house would get these things done for him, he would soon after realise that his precious ride didn't need any maintenance done on it, and then... He would be completely bored out of his mind.

" _And it's not even like I have Warp Darkmatter to chase after this time"_ The thought popped into his mind before he could really understand why it had gotten there in the first place, which only ended up with him hurriedly shaking his head to dispel the thought away. Why was he thinking about him then, of all times? _"Bah, it must be because Commander Nebula shouting at me reminded me of the academy... And because the last time I had shore leave it was because of Warp, in a sense. Nothing more"_

While he was thinking about the academy as it was, he began to think a little bit deeper on them, trying to find something within them that he could do during his shore leave. After all, back then he wasn't yet a ranger, so surely he had to have had some hobbies that interested him... Right?

The more he thought about it, the more he realised that he had very little beyond his desire to be a Space Ranger. Even back during his days in the academy, the majority of his time was spent on training and learning about what it would take to become one, with some vague other bits of his time spent on helping others when they needed his help with their own studies. Holidays didn't even interest him back then; with the only holiday he had ever spent relaxing was with... Warp, when he had invited him to a Valentine's day celebration in their first year of the academy.

Now that he thought about it, Warp was one of the few people that had never asked him for help in his studies. Buzz had always assumed that it was some sort of pride thing, but he never had found the time to ask him why. Speaking of those studies, how had he managed to end up as his partner if he always failed his written exams? Buzz could distinctly remember that he was good at the physical side of everything, including their flying courses, sparring, hand to hand combat and weaponry, but that would have placed him in the averages rather than at the top of his class alongside Buzz.

...He was doing it again, Buzz realised with a heavy sigh. Dwelling too much about the 'why's and the 'how's of those days, which frankly never got him anywhere.

 _"...I should get some fresh air"_ Buzz decided that going for a walk would clear his head. If nothing else, than it certainly would give him something to look at.

The moment he was out the door, it seemed to help him immensely. Not only could he vaguely register the sounds of children playing down the street from where his residential house lived, but the sun was shining on him. It was a lovely day, so he started to simply walk in a direction to see where he would end up.

The suburban type area that he lived in eventually morphed into a busier setting the nearer he walked to the city, but he didn't seem to mind the bustle as much as he would have other days. It was pleasant rather than deafening version one could find in Trade World, and there of course was the occasional person who recognised him; saying hello and thanking him for everything he had done for them.

However, after a while the continuous thanks begun to make him realise how much he wanted to return to work. After the twentieth person had stopped him for a moment to talk to him, he grew weary of it. At the first possible instance, he decided to slip inside the nearest shop that was open on his left, wanting to escape the streets.

The moment he heard the electronic pumping music, he realised that he hadn't really stumbled into a shop; instead he had found himself in a bar. While he really wasn't a fan of the music that was playing (it reminded him too much of punks who liked to get their noses pierced, the rebellious scamps), it wasn't nearly as loud as the majority of bars would have it; closer to a smooth background filler than an ear piercing business.

When he inspected everything a bit closer, he noticed that it was also a relaxed atmosphere in there. No mosh pits, no crowded atmosphere, just some people relaxing with a drink in their hands around the room. It seemed to be a new place, and Buzz had to admit that it was interesting enough to peak his interest, but not quite overbearing to make him avoid it.

" _I suppose it's a good place as any to spend some time"_ Buzz decided to linger longer in the bar, gently moving toward the bar to see what sort of non-alcoholic drinks they held (he still didn't like to get the slightest bit tipsy, he needed to be ready for anything after all). It was right then that someone seemed to recognise him, shattering the possibility of him getting some time on his own.

"Lightyear?"

The term used to address him, despite sounding quite formal, was not the typical name that people would call him. Only those within in Star Command such as Commander Nebula would use his last name as a respectful title, and everyone else simply would call him 'Buzz'. In fact, the only person who used his last name on its own, with that slight tinge of sarcasm and smarmy attitude was...

When he turned around, Warp Darkmatter was standing right in front of him. The both of them looked legitimately surprised to see the other there, and there was a good reason for that. Not only was Buzz Lightyear not a drinker and hated taking shore leave, but Warp was pretty private about his personal movements outside of his work as well. And even that wasn't a shock to either, as the both of them were aware of these qualities in each other from their history together. In all intents and purposes, the two of them meeting was pure coincidence... Or fate, if one was being melodramatic.

Neither had come for a fight, what with Buzz being forced to leave behind his uniform and with Warp's right robotic hand being in use to hold some sort of dull coloured drink. But, that did not stop Buzz's predisposition from coming to the fore, lifting his arm in a manner as if he was going to blast the other with a beam right there in the bar.

"Warp Darkmatter! You are... Uh..." It was about then that Buzz realised that he had no blaster on his hand, interrupting his typical thought process of arresting first and asking questions later. Whether one could call it luck or some kind of being watching over Buzz, he seemed to be blessed by the pure fact that his arch-rival was not intent on blowing him to smithereens with the arm cannon that he still had installed in his robotic arm.

"Geez Lightyear, still trying to arrest me even when you aren't parading around in your stupid white uniform" Warp seemed to find it more funny than he did offensive, expecting the reaction from his former partner. Even if he were a complete stranger to Buzz (which he wasn't), it would have been obvious to any stranger that Buzz had tensed his legs, as though to prepare to jump out of the way should Warp have changed his mind on how combative he was going to be. "Look, can you just give it a rest for a second? I'm not doing some nefarious scheme for Zurg right now, I'm just trying to have a drink"

"Wait, so you're... On shore leave?" Buzz found it hard to believe that Warp would even be taking time off, as of course he had never seen him do so after he had fallen to the dark side. This didn't mean that Warp didn't take shore leave, mind you, but that didn't stop the space ranger from being surprised to notice it.

"What else did you think I would be doing at a chill bar like this? Poisoning the drinks?" Warp sarcastically responded to Buzz's bewilderment, even going so far as to take a sip from the drink in his hand to prove it. Buzz glanced at the dull orange colour in the glass, but truthfully he had no clue what it was. All he knew was that there was a common rule in bars, and that was that the duller the colour of the drink, the more the alcohol that was present in it. Warp had taught him that back in the academy days, as of course the non-drinker out of the two was wondering why so many girls took the brightly coloured drinks with lots of fruit. "What about you? I know you, you hate drinks"

Buzz found it difficult to answer that question for a multitude of reasons. Not only would it have been exceedingly embarrassing to admit that he had broken one of his sacred rules (by accident, but that wouldn't have mattered to Warp), but the implication of his second sentence held more weight behind it than most. The two of them _did_ know each other... Possibly a little too well, considering the fact that they were now no longer on the same side of the law.

"Well?" Warp grew somewhat impatient with Buzz's silence, but he didn't seem like he was actually going to leave even if the space ranger refused to answer him. Buzz wasn't entirely sure what it was, but he was quite certain he could detect some semblances of boredom within the other's voice, alongside some... Other things that he couldn't seem to figure out right away.

"...I'm on shore leave" Buzz eventually decided that answer the question would be the fastest to get it over with, and the immediate raucous laughter coming from the evil agents mouth was expected. It wasn't quite the kind of laughter he had expected though, as it was less focusing on jeering at him, and more leaning towards the fact that he found it completely unbelievable. Buzz's deadpan face and posture seemed to sink in after a while however, as the laughter left just as soon as it had arrived.

"Wait, you're serious?" Warp couldn't believe his ears. _The_ Buzz Lightyear, the one that had never once in his academy life - nor his space ranger days - taken a day off, was now standing in front of him and telling him that he was effectively having a holiday. "That's... Wow, I did not expect that"

"Why?! Because I'm not reckless?! Because I'm not 'fun'?!" He wasn't entirely sure why, but that remark somehow seemed to flip some kind of switch within his mind, biting harshly back at Warp. He even purposefully used his fingers to accentuate how stupid he found the term of "fun", something that he had never done in the past to anyone, let alone his partner. It was likely because both of those terms had become ingrained within Buzz's mind for all the wrong reasons, equating fun with Warp's twisted view on why he had switched sides, and with reckless only conjuring up images of how he had always viewed his partner before the betrayal.

The remark he made even seemed to be loud enough to attract the attention of other people in the bar, who glanced their way for a short moment to see what was going on. Warp's silence and stoic face combined with Buzz's livid look seemed to give the other bar patrons the wrong kind of impression on what kind of argument they were having, soon turning away to allow the two of them to sort out their "couples argument".

"...I was actually going to say that I had never really seen you relaxed before" Warp revealed calmly that his mind had gone a completely different direction than what the other thought that he was thinking about. The moment those words left his lips, Buzz suddenly felt his anger deflate, completely unsure what he was supposed to make of it. "You know what? Just come sit with me for a while; it's not like I have someone to talk to in here"

"...Seriously?" Buzz asked him, unsure how the both of them were just supposed to... Talk, as though nothing had ever happened between them. Warp hummed an approving note, gesturing with his fingers for the other to follow him. While still extremely confused about it all, he found the gesture inviting in some manner, following after his partner to an even quieter corner of the room.

There was a table hidden just around the corner of the bar, in a nice secluded area that allowed the people sitting at the table to look out over the entire bar while resting their backs against the far wall. A nice little placard was ingrained into the middle of the table, with it informing whoever read it that the table was simply labelled as 'Table Number 37'. With some vague hints of trepidation, Buzz sat in the chair on the other side of it, being across from Warp as the latter casually finished the rest of his drink.

"Let's just forget about the law for a brief second. You're on shore leave, I'm on holiday, so let's just... Chill together" Warp spoke in a warm familiar tone that Buzz knew all too well, it being one of the two emotions that he couldn't quite locate before. It was like that feeling of returning home, the entire appeal of the tone being so lovely because you knew it well. The tone simply was calling to Buzz because he had heard it so many times in the past, and it felt like he was a moth being drawn right back to the flame it had chased before. "You still don't drink alcohol?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah" Buzz found himself floundering on the answer to that question, as it once again reminded him of how much they still recognised each other. _"If I spoke in a similar tone to the one he's using on me... Would he get that same nostalgic feeling?"_

Immediately after Warp gave some kind of order to the scuttling waitress coming to check on them, Buzz saw the opportunity to try to see what he could do on the other. After all, Buzz was endlessly curious to hear the answer to several questions that the other had managed to weasel his way out of in the past, but the important question in that moment he had to ask himself was where to begin? He didn't have to wait long for an idea to come to mind, as Warp began to tap his metal fingers absentmindedly against the table, reminding Buzz that the limb was no longer blood and bone.

"So, the arm" Buzz purposefully lowered the volume in his sentence, speaking less like an authoritative leader (like he generally was), instead dropping it to a level where he barely was louder than a whisper. Not only did it force the other man to lean in slightly to hear him better, it was extremely familiar to the both of them; as in the years of the academy there had been plenty of times that the two of them had stayed awake beyond the curfew, talking the night away in the double bunk bed that they had shared. "Was that intentional, or was that an accident?"

"Oh, that?" Warp's response came easily, his own voice mirroring the soft murmur that Buzz had adopted without realising it, even adding quite a gentle and raspy note to it that was similar to the one he had adopted during those late nights. "It was accidental, as much as it sounds stupid. The fireworks and explosion on the moon base was entirely intentional, but the rubble that I got caught under was not. Zurg's forces were only told to come and get me once you left to get reinforcements; so by the time I was found, the arm had lost too much blood to be saved"

"...I'm sorry" The words left Buzz's mouth without much thought, both because he was naturally quite a sympathetic person, but also because even in the worst circumstances he had never wished to harm Warp in such a manner.

"Eh, it's not like you could help it" Warp didn't hold a grudge about it, as he truly had factored in that he had willingly gone ahead with the plan in the first place, as well as the fact that Warp had been the one to slam his fist in Buzz's jetpack so that the latter could not "rescue" him in time. Besides, losing an arm was not as catastrophic for people in their time as it was for more primitive races.

"Still, it must have hurt" Buzz's particular words seemed to flick their own little switch in Warp's mind, and the change was immediately noticeable by the bitter frown marring the latter's handsome face.

"There are far worse things to lose than an arm" Warp icily responded to the remark, causing Buzz to cast his confused glance in his direction. It likely was a combination of genuine lack of knowledge of what he was referring to _and_ the sudden change it had prompted from him. Unfortunately for Buzz, who was aiming to use the moment to learn these things about his partner, Warp was not keen to talk about that subject; showing that the space ranger had poked just a little too deep for casual conversations. "Don't ask me about it; you haven't got me nearly drunk enough to make me want to talk about it"

...Now, that was not on. If there was one thing that Buzz (and Warp too, admittedly) could not turn down, it was a challenge. There was a reason their rivalry and competitions were so well known in the academy. It was simply because of how stubborn the both of them were, even when one should have known better that the competition was flawed from the start. And so, Warp knew very quickly once he recognised those old fiery eyes directed at him, that he had inadvertently taunted the other into a competition.

"Buzz, no" Warp was even defaulting back to a _really_ old habit, referring to him by his first name rather than his last name. Even with that, it didn't seem to dissuade the space ranger. "Dude, you _cannot_ handle your alcohol"

"You don't know that" Buzz started to go down his own old mannerisms of blatantly lying when others questioned whether he could or could not do something, but that was another thing that his partner already knew about him.

"I don't want to have to cart you off back to your home"

"You won't!"

"Geez... Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you"

Two drinks later, Buzz was in the 'tripping over himself' state of drunk. Warp had honestly found it surprising; he had expected the space ranger to not even handle a single drink that he had handed him as he had even purposefully gotten the strongest drinks the bar had in order to quickly win the competition. A leopard didn't change their spots after all; Warp was still quit happily a cheater in terms of their competitions, and he _really_ didn't want to start talking about those memories of being hurt... In far worse ways than losing an arm in some rubble.

"I'm... Hic! I'm still not giving up!" The drunk Buzz was still trying to claim that he was fine for another drink, but Warp knew better than that. If the other couldn't even handle the monumental task of staying upright for longer than two seconds, then he really doubted that he could even get the drink correctly to his lips without spilling it.

"If you drink anymore, then the most you're going to be doing is vomiting all over the place" Warp half-heartedly lectured the man sitting across from him at the table, but he had a feeling that talking to him wasn't going to get him anywhere. He was incredibly dense at some of the most inconvenient of times after all. Warp sighed deeply, knowing that it came down to him to get Buzz home, lest the space ranger fall asleep in some gutter on the way home... Or worse, if some person came along who wasn't so discerning about genders. "Come here"

With that, Warp stood up and collected the drunken space ranger from the other seat, before beginning to slowly lead the other out of the bar. One pair of ladies entering the bar did ask Warp if he was '"taking his boyfriend home" and the evil agent's only response was to frown bitterly. Buzz seemed too drunk to hear them.

Finding one brightly coloured taxi down the street wasn't all that hard, but getting him inside the car was another problem entirely, with the space ranger clinging onto him too tightly while he was attempting to open the door.

"Let go man, I can't do this if I can't move my damn arms" Warp complained about his partners sudden tight grip around his shoulders, but Buzz's response didn't seem to dissuade the taxi driver's opinion that the both of them were a couple rather than enemies.

"No! You're leaving me again!" Buzz seemed to be the melodramatic type of drunk, and Warp's very long eye-roll told several passers-by that they certainly did have a complicated relationship together. They couldn't have quite guessed _how_ complicated it was, but that didn't matter. "You're abandoning me just like you did back then! Not just me, but you're abandoning Star Command all over again, and-

"If _anyone_ was abandoning _anyone_ in comparison between Star Command and I, it would have been _them_ , abandoning _me_!" Warp angrily cut off his partner, Buzz once again finding just the wrong set of words to set him off. With that outburst, Buzz seemed to be stunned into silence long enough for Warp to finally managed to shove the space ranger into the taxi, who landed with a bit of a thud against the backseat. Seemingly thinking that Buzz was completely unaware of what he was saying, Warp completely ignored the possibility that the latter heard that outburst in its entirety, with the latter instead focusing on directing the taxi driver on where to go rather than trying to reason it away. "Hey there, can you take him here? He's super drunk, so you may need to point him in the direction on where to go"

"What?! But that's outside of the city!" The taxi driver clearly seemed like the person who only did driving within the city, but his loud voice quickly grated on Warp's ears. "Are you going to pay me extra for doing that?!"

"How about this; you take him there, and I won't vaporize you" Warp angrily made his right arm transform into the blaster variant, holding it's charged beam up to the scared taxi drivers face. This seemed to be enough to make the taxi driver change his tune, eagerly nodding his head to avoid being shot at. "Good, that's what I like to hear. Now get going, he may or may not vomit all over your backseat if you're too rough in driving though"

With Warp retracting himself out of the window, the taxi driver sped off before he might be brought into danger again. Buzz, who finally had some kind of support and purchase in the backseat, lifted himself just a bit up so that he was sitting properly in one of the seats, before turning his head to look through the rear window at Warp's slowly disappearing figure. For a moment it seemed as if the evil agent was doing the same thing, watching the vehicle drive away for a short while before shaking his head and walking back in the direction of the bar. And while Warp likely may have wished with all of his heart that his last remark to Buzz hadn't stuck in his mind, it had embedded itself there in the latter's mind like glue.

_If anyone was abandoning anyone in comparison between Star Command and I, it would have been them, abandoning me..._


	2. Buzz Lightyear, Personal Log: Acquiring Information

Buzz Lightyear awoke the next solar day, with some of the stupidly wide glass windows in his house streaking sunlight over his face as an unwanted wake-up call. After rolling a little bit, he felt the reassuring texture of his leather couch, which allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief that he hadn't gotten completely lost on his way home.

 _"Thank Mercury"_ Buzz thought to himself, as there were certain gaps in his memory on exactly _how_ he had managed to make it back to his house in one piece. Even the simple task of trying to remember the previous night seemed to be difficult, as the moment he began to try and use his brain, a blinding headache rose to the fore. _"Gah, craters... I haven't felt like this since the academy days"_

Ah yes, the academy days. He had only tried alcohol once back then due to his fellow recruits asking him to try it, and it got proven in the same night that Buzz Lightyear (while being a perfectly capable and astounding space ranger in every other regard) was _not_ a drinker. In fact, the experience seemed to be the exact same as back then; blurs of memory where it should have been a sharp recall of that time, and an altogether unpleasant time after the first drop touched his tongue.

Most ironic of all, was the fact that it had been the very same person both times who had ensured that he had gotten back to his dorm/house safe and sound; Warp Darkmatter. With a startling rush of memories returning to him, he started to remember the previous day, including the part where he had run into his old partner and tried to drink him under the table... And failed.

" _If anyone was abandoning anyone in comparison between Star Command and I, it would have been them, abandoning me"_ Buzz was able to recount that final angry tirade from his partner a little too well, as of course the statement would have not only surprised him, but it also made him endlessly curious. What could the evil agent even be referring to? Warp had admitted to Buzz the first time that they had faced off against each other that the former had 'been on Zurg's payroll since the academy days', so that didn't seem to make much sense to the space ranger.

Buzz thought to himself that he would have realised some kind of bad blood between the academy and his partner... But then again, he had also missed the signals that the latter was working with Zurg in the first place, so he supposed that he didn't have the right to claim that it didn't exist because he was too thick to realise it.

The space ranger eventually managed to stay still long enough for the world to stop spinning around him, carefully sitting up on the couch he had collapsed onto the night before. While his brain was begging him to do not much more than lie in bed with plenty of water to drink, his heart was now intent on discovering the mystery behind those harrowed words. If there was a bad quality to Buzz Lightyear (along with many others that he likely wouldn't admit aloud, he was too proud about those), he was exceedingly stubborn; which all of his team members and Commander Nebula could attest to. It often was a good thing; it had saved the universe a number of times when Zurg was being particularly mean spirited, but there most definitely were moments when it was not needed.

He pondered for a moment how he was supposed to find Warp and ask him further information, when he realised that it was extremely unlikely to find him in such a casual situation ever again. The evil agent had likely returned to work by then, and reappearing at the same bar was likely not his style now that Buzz had been there once. He _could_ head to Warp's private moon, but heading there would likely start some brawl between the both of them just like the last time he had been there for the implants in the back of their necks, if not initiate a fight to the death (which was _not_ the kind of scenario where his partner would talk about those words). Truth be told, Warp and Buzz finding each other in the bar likely was one of those fated moments that people often talked about; something that only ever happened once within someone's life.

...Even with that thought plaguing the back of his mind, he decided to check the bar once again. After swallowing some medication to help his headache subside, he headed out toward the city.

He didn't know quite what he was supposed to be looking for, so he had to spend some valuable time checking every single bar that he passed by, searching for that one elusive bar. Luckily for him, there weren't that many, and he thought that he had managed to find the correct one only three bars later.

The place hadn't changed much in the meantime, except for the thumping music being swapped out for a smooth jazz melody (his throbbing headache silently thanked the place for that, as he wasn't sure he would have handled the other kind at that moment in time) as well as it being far busier than the previous day. There were quite a number of extra patrons lingering around, which made it much harder to do a perimeter sweep to look for the blue skinned evil agent. He even got a number of giggles from some pretty ladies lingering near the entrance, but he decided to gently (if firmly) push his way into the crowd.

There were several different places he could check, one of which was the bar itself to see if he was loitering there for his next drink. But somehow, his feet seemed to point in a different direction, heading over to a small quiet spot right around the corner of the bar instead. He could recognise the glint of the metal placard in the middle of the table first from a distance, and soon he could spot that one of the chairs was occupied. A hopeful feeling surged up from the depths of his gut, making him ponder why he was so excited for the possibility of seeing his arch-rival, but he pushed them aside just as he gently moved a gaggle of women out of his way so that he could see... That Warp was indeed sitting at the table, nursing a small pink coloured drink in his hands.

There was the momentary surprise in each other’s expression again, not expecting to see the other there so soon after their last somewhat disastrous meeting... Right up until someone bumped into Buzz, nearly knocking the space ranger off his feet.

"Jupiter Lightyear, sit down before someone bowls you over" Warp gruffly ordered the other to get out of the crowd before it overwhelmed him, to which Buzz quite gladly sat down to get out of the way of the surging excitement of some of the bar patrons. The evil agent took a sip from the drink in his hand, possibly to gain some of the liquid courage in his system first, before he found his following words. "I would offer you a drink, but considering the results of yesterday, I'd say you aren't too keen on repeating it"

"Speaking of drinks, what is _that_?" Buzz was astounded to see the bright pink, fruity drink in the others hand, to which Warp scoffed at.

"Can't a guy drink something without getting judged?" Despite Warp's words, there was a grin present on his handsome face, showing that he wasn't truly bothered by being considered 'unmanly' by the other. Buzz cursed silently to himself, disliking the fact that the both of them had to yell to even hear each other over the other patrons; it did not make for an easy way for them to talk to one another. "Besides, I decided that I had enough of the strong drinks here for a while"

 _"Good"_ Buzz thought to himself, as it seemed like the both of them were quite casual and comfortable with each other to ask the questions he was hoping for. In fact, it seemed as if he and Warp could easily slip into that sort of tone with each other... Which seemed odd, as the both of them were supposed to hate each other’s guts by that point. " _Now, how in Venus do I start talking about those words from yesterday without making him clam up faster than XR's overheating systems?"_

"So, what does actually bring you back here?" Warp essentially started a conversation that presented Buzz with an open goal for his discussion, but only if the latter was brave enough to bring it up. Whether you could call it foolhardiness, a strong sense of bravado or courage (which one it is often came down to the eye of the beholder after all), Buzz certainly was no milk-drinker... Although, he likely would prefer that drink to one with alcohol.

"I remember that you brought me to a taxi yesterday" Buzz decided to start his conversation casually, and he could spy a movement from Warp's Adams apple that suggested that the evil agent hadn't said much beyond humming in confirmation that he had indeed brought the space ranger to the taxi. Buzz found himself distracted with the Adams apple for a moment, wondering how he hadn't noticed before that it was so... Prominent on the other. It was the moment that Warp glanced at him that Buzz was startled back into finishing his sentence, wondering why he had gotten so distracted. "What did you mean by that last sentence? The one talking about Star Command abandoning you"

Even with the abundant noise around the both of them, Buzz could clearly hear Warp grumble loudly. Only a second after did he seem to mumble to himself about he had hoped that the other had been too drunk to remember it, his left hand reaching up to rub one of his temples as though he too was attempting to handle a hangover like the other was.

"It's not important" Warp tried to deflect the issue the moment he saw that Buzz was leaning in close... Possibly too close, in order to hear what the other was going to say. But even as those words left his lips, he knew the chances of the space ranger conveniently forgetting about it were close to zero. There honestly was a more likely chance that the Evil Emperor Zurg would turn good than that Buzz would give up on something... Which he remembered both loving and hating in equal measures back during the academy and their days working as partners. "Really, it would just end up shattering your perfect image of Star Command, Lightyear. Let sleeping dogs lie, you know?"

"If that dog needs to be woken up to make things right, then I'll be the one blasting the trumpet the loudest" Warp was quite certain that Buzz was mixing up several idioms and just rambling complete nonsense by that point, but it certainly did sound familiar. Going out of his way to try and solve problems that weren't his, even if the result would be less than satisfactory. This... Was exactly why he hadn't brought it up with the other during the academy days.

Most of all, it was causing Warp's slight headache to get worse. With an annoyed huff, Warp grabbed a notepad from a hidden compartment in his armour, before scribbling something down on it before sliding the notepad to the confused space ranger across the table. He was mainly doing it to get the other off his back, and he certainly wasn't going to entertain the other with sordid stories about the past. If Buzz was so insistent on learning the truth, then he could do it on his own.

"Knock yourself out, I guess" Warp told him that, before gulping down the rest of his drink. It sounded like a good time to leave, as he really wasn't in the mood for further interrogation from the other person. He didn't mind Buzz's company, quite the opposite, but this... He wasn't keen on reopening those old wounds.

"I'll figure out the truth!" Buzz still felt that he had to call out that to the retreating partner, but he couldn't tell if those words were reassuring or worrying him. "I'm serious! Come back tomorrow and I'll have the truth!"

"Sure, whatever" Was the last that Buzz could make out of Warp's words, before the latter disappeared out the door. There were a number of returning patrons who had been there the previous day, noticing their interactions going on once again. One particular couple discussed whether they were hoping that the two of them would work through their spat and "get back together", but Buzz was surrounded by too many people to truly hear it.

While it wasn't exactly for the result that Buzz had hoped for, he was now one step closer to learning the truth about the other. Taking a look down at the notepad he had been handed, he was surprised to note that the wording upon it was eerily familiar. 'Section 3; Subsection Romeo' was what the notepad said, and it instantly got Buzz thinking.

 _"Huh, that's funny"_ Buzz thought to himself, even holding the note upside down and at differing angles to see if Warp had snuck in another secret message in that simple sentence. It did not seem so, it seemed simply to be those words and nothing more. _"That sounds like it should be in the Space Ranger Mission Manual. But I didn't..."_

He hadn't written that section, Buzz realised with a start. While most people attributed _all_ of the rules within that manual toward Buzz, there were a spare few rules that had existed before Buzz Lightyear had become an esteemed ranger. This one, that Warp had scribbled down, was one of them.

Curiosity (and an unexplained sense of trepidation to go along with it) brimming within him, Buzz stood up and made his way out of the bar to return home. While he hadn't held that rule book within his hands for a long while (he generally kept them all safely tucked away within his mind, like Booster did), there still was one tucked away in his bookshelf at home.

His frazzled and hungover mind didn't really appreciate the way he decided to run back home at the last moment, but he had returned back in record time. After turning off the alarm and reassuring the robots within the house that it was not a burglar (they had mistaken him for one last night, his slightly soapy shoes could attest to that), the first thing he did was grasp the mission manual within his hands. While it certainly was old, it still had everything within it perfectly listed. It didn't take long to find the section, it was one of the very first to have ever been made, but it did take him a bit longer to find the subsection underneath it.

 _"Subsection Papa... Subsection Quebec... Aha! Here we go"_ He eventually found the rule, and he had to admit it was not something that immediately sprung to mind. It must have been one that was not used much, he thought to himself. It was only when he read it... That even more questions began to spring up in his mind. _"Subsection Romeo; Space Rangers shall not engage in impure relationships"_

...Buzz had no clue what this could mean in reference to his former partner. While he did have a bit of a thing for flirting with women, Buzz could attest to the fact that Warp Darkmatter never had engaged in any sort of relationships with any of them. In fact, he had often seen how annoyed Warp got in his private life if some woman did not take no for answer about having some kind of relationship. And hadn't Mira gotten away perfectly fine despite displaying her affections for Romac?

" _Guess this means that I need to know more"_ Despite the setback, Buzz wasn't giving up. He made sure to grab the spare space suit that he had ordered the last time he had to travel through space (which once again, was the last time he had been forced to go on shore leave), before grabbing his keys for his special ride. _"Who knows, maybe they'll even let me eat in the cafeteria there for a moment. It's not healthy to go an entire day without food"_

As he climbed into the ride, he found himself glancing at the empty seat next to his, the one which he had installed an ejector seat into. He found himself inadvertently smiling at the thought of the previous person who had sat there, before flying off in the direction of Star Command.

* * *

"Captain Lightyear, what an honour!" One of the fresh faced recruits greeted him when he entered in through the public access entrance of the space station, and Buzz found himself smiling at the eagerness in that boy. It was always good to see that people were eager to do good for the universe... Even if Warp was convinced of something going on behind the scenes. "But if I may ask, aren't you on shore leave sir?"

"At ease private; I'm just here to collect something that I had forgotten" Buzz could feel himself inwardly cringe at lying to the new recruit, but it didn't seem like the other had noticed his momentary discomfort. There didn't seem to be anyone else within the public access entrance, as though everyone was off on some important mission. "Where is everyone?"

"Ah, most people are off dealing with a super weapon that Zurg was trying to deploy on Rhizome. You know how it is sir" The reasoning did sound like something that would happen, but he was surprised to note that with his absence, it seemed as if more rangers needed to be out handling the missing manpower. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to be proud with how strong he was, or be worried about the capability of Star Command while he was out of action. "XR is still here, if you'd like to see him for a moment"

"Thank you private, I can handle it from here" Buzz felt nervous with the recruit trying to follow him around, and luckily the younger man seemed to get the hint that he didn't want company during that time. Once he was left on his own, Buzz quickly made his way over to the stations computer sections, which were usually filled to the brim with little green men. Not that day however, as it seemed they were also off on a mission. " _Now... What should I be looking for?_ "

He experimentally typed into the computer the specific section and subsection to see if it still was a mandated rule. Once the search results turned up the exact same thing as he had discovered in the manual, there was no real secondary possibility that it was an old rule that had gone long out of date. It was right when his hands were about to reach out and type Warp Darkmatter's name, that XR spoke up directly behind him.

"Buzz, my pal, my buddy! How are we?"

"CRATERS!" Buzz nearly smacked XR's reinforced dome with his hand, as it was a reflex that he had unfortunately built up when he was really startled by someone. XR simply raised an eyebrow (or, you know, the piece of metal above his optics that generally resembled an eyebrow), as he had never experienced his team leader so jumpy in the past. "XR, you scared me!"

"What happened to never being surprised by anybody? I remember you mentioned that you don't "get" surprised" XR pointedly jabbed in his team leaders chest, with Buzz only moving the metal finger away when it was pushing into some sensitive parts of his suit. XR, while also being considered one of the stubborn and self-obsessed (other people's words, never Buzz's) members of his team, was not as slow as his older brother XL in moments such as that one. "Oooh! Unless... You're doing something you're not supposed to be doing!"

"Shh!" Buzz was admittedly more worried about someone catching them than he was admitting to be doing something iffy, and it seemed to be his shining fortune in that moment that he had been caught by one of his most unruly team members unlike Booster or Mira. If anything, the gleam in XR's optics said that he was more than happy to be part of the escapade, especially if it meant that sometime in the future that he could tease his commanding officer about not always being as squeaky clean as he claimed. "I'm... I'm just trying to find out some information"

"Neat! I'll act as your valiant guard" XR turned around so that he could warn Buzz if anyone else was going to come along who really would take offence to Buzz's search of the system... But the senior ranger could obviously notice that the robot had pulled out one of his optics to peek at what the former was searching up.

Buzz sighed softly, but decided that there wasn't much he could do about it. He turned around and quickly typed in Warp Darkmatter's name into the system, instantly returning a result that waffled on about his past recommendations and how he was no longer part of Star Command. What was odd was the fact that the majority of his information was hidden behind a high rank system... And it was listed as being only available for the highest person within Star Command; Commander Nebula himself.

"That's... Odd. Why would Commander Nebula not want people to read about his information?" Buzz mumbled to himself, scratching his clean shaven chin in confusion. Surely some of the newer recruits could have made use of the information, even if only to recommend on what _not_ to do.

"I can help you buddy!" XR didn't seem to question on why Buzz wanted to find out more things about Warp, instead rolling forward and inserting his special connection wire to the plug underneath the computer. Buzz wasn't sure what he was doing, whether he was asking the computer politely to allow Buzz access or because he had some sort of secret code that he had... "Borrowed" from Commander Nebula, but he was hopeful that it would work. Before long, the computer changed its tune for Buzz, allowing him full access to everything. "Tadah! Don't say I do nothing for you"

Scrolling down further into the information, Buzz was surprised to find out that there were records kept on Warp all throughout his time in the academy. For the first year into their time at the academy, Warp's record was completely clean beyond some small comments from Nebula on how Warp could get a slightly better attitude if he hung around Buzz more... However that seemed to change sharply after a notation partway through the first year.

"Recruit Parsec has brought it to my attention that Darkmatter has been engaging in improper behaviour with fellow recruit Lightyear" Buzz recited what he could read, not only confusing him, but the smaller robot beside him. "Until this behaviour is corrected, proper punishments must be put into place"

"Ooh la la! What improper behaviour were you and he getting up to during the academy?" While XR had phrased it all as a joke, the robot's tune seemed to change sharply when he glanced over at Buzz's absolutely bewildered face... Spelling out that this was not something that the space ranger had known about beforehand. "...Buzz?"

"I... I don't know" Buzz felt he had to admit, his hands naturally gravitating back to the keyboard to discover more about this. It was like wandering down into a rabbit hole, discovering that there was an entire world underneath the one that he had thought had existed. "Year two; Recruit Darkmatter has been spoken to privately. He claims that his affliction is not curable, and that there is absolutely nothing wrong with him. I warned him that his affliction could prevent him from becoming a space ranger, and he told me to... Ahem, engage in sexual relations with myself"

"I, uh... I change my mind, I'm exclusively going to act as a guard" XR decided to leave the rest to Buzz, rolling a bit away so as not to read any more logs left behind in the computer. Buzz could understand, in any other situation he felt like he would have liked nothing more than to leave it alone, but he felt like he had to know the entire thing now that he had come this far. At the very least, Buzz was doing his robot buddy a solid by no longer reading the logs aloud.

" _Year three; Despite my best efforts, Recruit Darkmatter is one of the top of his batch of academy recruits. His physical tests, despite being only half of his grade, are exemplary enough that he will likely end up being paired with Recruit Lightyear... And it will raise eyebrows if I were to fail him now"_ Buzz felt incredibly crushed the more he read about these past events, as it painted an incredibly conniving and dastardly side of the Commander he had known for the majority of his life. The man who he had essentially considered his second father... Had completely betrayed his best friend. " _He has kept his affliction successfully hidden for two years by now. One can only hope that this is as effective as curing him of it... I suppose there is no harm in allowing Lightyear and him to be partners, as we need Lightyear at his best. If another recruit were to come along who is a better candidate, then I hope that Lightyear will take to them much more than Darkmatter"_

He felt his heart sink, his fingers tapping away on the keyboard to look at the previous grades that they had ever received, trying to find something that would disprove what he had just read. What he found... Didn't help.

Warp's written exams were flawless in the first year of the academy, bordering on perfect alongside Buzz's (which the space ranger had brought up for comparison). It was only once the first notations date came around that Warp got his first F, which was odd, as his answers were essentially the same as Buzz's (mainly a difference in phrasing and how they got there) who got a perfect score instead. With every new passing written assignment, one could see that Warp's performance started to degrade, before altogether giving up on his written exams because the score was never anything above an F. In fact, the final year... Warp never even bothered to fill in his name, leaving the entire pages blank all the way until he graduated.

Whether Buzz wanted to admit it or not, the signs were clear; Warp Darkmatter had been sabotaged throughout his time in the academy. It started to clear up various confusing qualities about his friend in the past; including why his friend had such a blatant disregard for study books, why he always refused help from Buzz (as the space ranger likely wouldn't have been able to help at all), but most of all... Why he seemed so incredibly disillusioned with both the academy and Star Command.

"...Uh, Buzz?" XR finally dared to speak to the space ranger, who had gone completely silent and pale in the face. Buzz truly wished that he could have put on a facade in that moment, to pretend that everything was alright, but it was far too difficult a task at that point. "Are you alright?"

"No, I'm not" Buzz bluntly told him that, turning off the computer that he had been using so that there was no more trace of his searching for others to come along and find. With a dejected look in his eyes, Buzz trudged back off to his ride to head home. "But thank you for asking"


	3. Buzz Lightyear, Personal Log: Verifying Information

Buzz had returned to his home, but sleep evaded him the entire night. Any time he began to think about getting some rest, his thoughts would wander back to the startling realisation of Warp's treatment during the academy years. Truthfully, Buzz still had no clue what the records were referring to in terms of 'improper behaviour', but it had seemed to be something that his arch-rival legitimately could not alter about himself.

But even more damming, was the encroaching truth that there was no way Buzz could have helped his partner. Would he have even wanted to if he did have that capability? Choosing between Star Command and his best friend... Craters, he would have agonized over his choice regardless of which one he had settled on. Perhaps that was exactly why Warp had never sought his help; he didn't want to force the obedient bright-eyed Buzz to choose between his calling and his moral code.

 _"Let sleeping dogs lie, huh..."_ He found himself thinking back to the remark that Warp had made in the bar the previous time they had met, as he now finally understood the meaning behind those words. If he had the power of foresight, would he have preferred to live in blissful ignorance rather than learning the truth?

Buzz glanced over to the bedside clock, seeing it reflecting back a late time. He had never been so late up, not even during the academy or on some solar night mission... But it felt pointless to toss and turn in his bed until the solar morning came. Getting out of bed, he settled on going for another walk, as it had helped him settle down on the very first solar day of his shore leave.

As usual, his feet seemed to point in the direction of the city, and it didn't take long to reach the same bar he had visited both prior days. He only had to mull it over a little bit before deciding to walk inside it, as he supposed that the music in there would have been a nice background sensation rather than the silence of the night. Warp likely wasn't going to be there again, as the chances of the evil agent returning the following day at Buzz's request were low as it was.

Once again, the music seemed to have changed from the last time he had been there. The space ranger was surprised to hear the combination of piano and violin music, two buskers coming inside and deciding to play music for the few patrons that the bar entertained at that late time. Whoever owned the bar seemed to allow them to play there, earning a small living from those that enjoyed their gentle serenade.

It seemed as if some of the other regular bar-goers begun to recognise Buzz, both he and them had been there enough times to vaguely recall the other's face. Some gave him a pleasant wave and a smile, which he found himself returning with the same politeness and ease. That bar truly was a nice one, Buzz noted. It seemed to be a place for anyone to come to, whether they drank or not, to enjoy a comfortable atmosphere with one another in relative silence.

The space ranger wondered for a moment whether it was polite to order some drink regardless of how long he stayed there, when his eyes swept over that familiar table around the corner of the bar. It had been an absentminded glance at first, but the less dense crowd made it very easy to notice that it was yet again occupied. He had no clue what he was supposed to say to the latter now that he knew some more things about his situation, but he found it quite natural to walk over to what Buzz now considered to be 'their table'.

Warp no longer seemed surprised to see the other, as by then it seemed to be quite normal to run into the other at the bar. The evil agent loosely gestured to the open chair on the other side of the table, and Buzz sat down without a word, the both of seemingly getting used to the arrangement.

"You look like crap Lightyear" He mumbled, his voice adopting that same raspy tone to it which signified that the other had gotten about as little sleep as the space ranger had. While Buzz would have never been caught using the same harsh language as the other, he seemed to understand the sentiment better than most.

"So do you" Buzz found himself speaking quite casually, skipping past the majority of pleasant conversation in his tired state. In a way, it was like the two of them were still partners, oddly comfortable with the other's presence despite their similar gender (most people who were as close as they were at times would often be couples after all). As Warp yawned softly across from him, Buzz could catch a glimpse of the sharp canines and his rough tongue... Ah, that was right; the latter had mentioned it once or twice in the academy that his species was part cat. "I couldn't sleep"

"M'yeah, same" Even if his arch-rival hadn't admitted it, it was clear to notice on his face. There were dark circles underneath his eyes, as well as the gruff look that generally only came if someone was too tired to care about how they appeared to others. _Was he staying up out of worry from what I would discover?_ Buzz wondered. "So, did you find out every little sordid detail, or were you too polite to go poking beyond a surface level?"

"I... I discovered the blackmail" Buzz usually did not mince his words for evildoers, but he found himself having difficulty in admitting this to the person sitting across from him. Perhaps it was simply admitting it aloud that made it more difficult... As Buzz likely would have found himself tripping over himself (verbally, anyway) even if someone innocuous such as Mira or Booster had asked him about it. He could spy Warp sighing heavily, grinding his teeth in an old mannerism that he knew all too well as the latter's sign of extreme frustration. "I'm... I'm so sorry Warp"

" _Don't_ " The single word stung, as both parties could tell that apologies wouldn't help anything. It couldn't change the past, so it naturally felt as though Buzz was pitying Warp... And that especially didn't sit well with the latter, as he didn't want pity. If anything, the evil agent just wanted to forget about it. "Just... Just don't, okay? Hearing you apologise when it wasn't your fault... It makes it worse"

Buzz wanted to open his mouth and apologise once again for treading where he shouldn't, but he wisely managed to realise that _any_ form of apology would fall as flat as the first one did. He couldn't exactly tell, but the evil agent had noticed that Buzz had changed his mind at the last minute, and he was silently thankful that the endless apologies were going to be cut short. Warp knew it was quite normal for Buzz; taking on the majority of the blame as his even if he had nothing to do with it, and his golden heart wouldn't feel right if it wasn't a situation that he could fix. Those qualities made Buzz a good space ranger - possibly even the best - but it made him a terrible therapist.

There was a moment that their collective sour mood was interrupted, the same scuttling waitress from a day prior came along to ask them in some far off language if they wanted anything, but Warp politely indicated that they were alright. Any kind of alcoholic drink would likely just result in more problems as it was, and for once the evil agent wasn't interested in holding something between his hands (he had a feeling he would only crush the glass between his metal fingers at this rate). It was when the waitress left that the mood seemed to have been cleared somewhat, as Buzz seemed to find his nerve to ask a pressing question on his mind.

"One thing that doesn't really make much sense to me, is that it stated that you were being kept tabs on for 'improper behaviour' with me" Buzz started talking, as he felt that if he stopped that he would either be interrupted by the other, or completely lose his nerve on the subject. "And the section and subsection didn't make much sense either, as you've never gotten in a relationship with women. So... I'm confused on why you were in trouble"

Warp gave him one of _those_ looks; the one that said that he thought that Buzz was being incredibly dense. Buzz never liked that look, as it always seemed to imply that he was stupid (and he wasn't, he was the top of his class in terms of written exams after all!)... And it somehow would always relate back to more interpersonal intelligence that Buzz would miss the signals in.

"...Seriously?"

"Wait, no! Don't tell me, I can figure it out!" Buzz interrupted the other before Warp could tell him what it was, as somehow that look seemed to inspire that sense of challenge between them. It was why their sparring sessions were considered so legendary back in the academy days, as they loved that thrill of competition... As well as other things. "Uh, let's see... You've never dated a woman in the academy... Ty talked about improper behaviour... And the first problems started partway through the first year of the academy"

Buzz legitimately had difficulty remembering something that would have been considered improper conduct. Sure, Warp occasionally cheated during their competitions with each other, but those never seemed to be brought up by anyone important within the academy. In fact, the only thing that Buzz could remember that distinctly about the first year was...

...The Valentine’s Day they shared together.

* * *

The room was nicely decorated when Buzz entered the room, seeing the various paper hearts and streamers tacked onto corners of the dorm room. He was a little surprised to say the least, as Warp had always told him before that day that he found the holiday to be incredibly tacky, and pink was most certainly not the blue skinned cadets favourite colour.

"I like what you've done with the place!" Buzz happily praised his fellow cadet, clapping the other on the shoulder with how much dedication the other had put into it. Admittedly, pink was also not Buzz's favourite colour, but he appreciated how much effort Warp had put into making his first experience of the holiday a special one. "Is anyone else coming?"

"No, I had intentionally made it just for you and I" Warp's eyes seemed to avoid looking the fellow cadet in the eyes, which was uncharacteristically shy of him. Buzz smiled at the extravagance of everything, which seemed to make his fellow cadet very happy. "Ty tried to join, but I told him it was a private thing"

"Ah, that's actually perfect; I think a more intimate celebration with friends is much nicer than a big crowd anyway" Buzz seemed to completely misunderstand the signals that the other was trying to give him, moving forward to inspect the small drinks cooler that the other had set up. "Oh! There are only juices and such in here"

"Yeah, I know you don't like alcohol after that experience you had a couple of solar weeks ago" Warp had specifically avoided drinks that were tainted with the typical bubbles and fermentation, despite the fact that both cadets knew that he could handle (and frequently enjoyed) such drinks. But even so, he was hoping that Buzz would understand what he meant by purposefully avoiding them this time around. "I had done it just for you, after all"

"Really? Thanks Warp!" Buzz was still happily cheery, handing the other a small bottle full of some kind of red coloured fruit drink. Warp accepted it, looking a little unsure if the other was actually getting what he was trying to say. "You're really a great friend"

When Buzz turned around and took a sip from his orange flavoured drink, he could spy a kind of emotion in the other’s eyes that seemed to be unfamiliar. The closest thing he could match it to was a mixture of disappointment and dismay, which instantly worried him.

"Is something wrong Warp?" He couldn't help but ask; which seemed to urge the other to stop looking in a disappointed manner at the floor. Warp stared him straight at the eye, seemingly trying to clue into the other to think a little harder on what he was trying to say... But all he got back was a blank stare.

"...It's nothing" Warp decided to cut his losses right then and there. At the worst, it was Buzz being purposefully clueless, and at best the other man was being as dense in love as he always was. The chances of the other being interested in anything beyond the female form was quite low as it was, so it likely was better to give up before he inadvertently ruined their relationship. "Happy valentine's day Buzz"

"Happy valentine's day Warp" Buzz ended up returning the sentiment to the other, and the both of them spent the rest of the night in their dorm room as usual; doing nothing more than talking the night away with an added amount of drinks to quench their thirst.

Little did the both of them know, Ty had found it unusual that the both of them were spending that holiday with each other, telling Commander Nebula about it when the senior officer asked the recruit what was wrong. Their friend hadn't intended to get either person in trouble, but... By then, it was too late.

* * *

When he had examined that memory, it finally seemed to beat him figuratively over the head what that entire celebration was actually supposed to be about. Not only did he know actually know what that holiday truly signified, but it was now combined with all of the other information he had... Which finally meant that his occasionally slow light-bulb could flicker on.

"You showed romantic interest in me" Buzz uttered those words, expecting to see shock on the other man's face. But no, all he got was a sly smile along with his sneering tone, a common combination that Warp wore proudly.

"Only took you several years" Warp was doing far from denying it, he seemed excessively proud of it. Buzz buried his face in his hands, a combination of differing kinds of embarrassment turning his face red. Not only were the hints extremely heavy (so that's why Warp seemed to enjoy sparring with him so much!), but he had never quite felt that intense feeling of someone being interested in him; it was usually Buzz who was doing the pursuing after all. "Honestly Buzz, how dense can you be?"

"Shut up..." Buzz wailed behind his hands, the noise sounding close to a childish whine when it reached Warp's ears. The mood had changed sharply, Warp relishing in teasing the other like he used to do, while Buzz was fruitlessly trying to hide his social failings.

"I mean, did you even look at the sign of the bar here?" These words from Warp were the first to make Buzz lift his hands away from his face, seeing that the former was pointing somewhere behind him. When he turned his head, he could see another plaque stationed above the bar itself, which told the name to anyone who hadn't seen it while walking in. Not only did it say that its name was 'Echo Fibre', but in smaller lettering underneath it told loud and clear that the bar... Was a gay bar. "Imagine my surprise when the stupidly straight Buzz Lightyear comes strolling into _the_ gay bar in the city"

"I... Uh, I had never actually looked at the sign" Buzz admitted sheepishly, causing the other to loudly laugh and slap the table as though it was the funniest joke of the century. He knew by then that trying to tell the other to quiet down would only serve to egg him on, so Buzz grumbled and went back to burying his head in hands.

"Took you long enough, but congrats Lightyear; you've discovered that gay people exist" Warp smugly accepted it as some kind of verbal victory to thoroughly embarrass the other, which once again seemed to flare up some sort of competitive fire in his partner. When his eyes crept up from his hands, Buzz found himself staring at his still euphoric partner.

...Warp was gay. Not only was he gay, but he was interested in _him._ He didn't quite understand how that worked, as he had never really tried to attract the former space ranger in any capacity; that was largely reserved for ladies that caught Buzz's interest.

Speaking of ladies however, what did Warp exactly see as attractive in him? Buzz quickly glanced down at himself, noticing that he was missing several of the alluring quantities of women. There was no delicate mannerisms to him, he didn't have curves in the right places... Frankly, Buzz was largely muscles and good ol' space ranger pride, but not much else.

 _"Ah, no, that's not how attraction works_ " Buzz realised before long, as peoples attraction wouldn't centre on how they themselves looked; they would be focusing on how the _other_ looked. As such, Buzz found himself staring in turn over at Warp, trying to understand how attraction to another man worked.

Yet again, Buzz noticed the lack of womanly qualities in Warp. There was no... Ahem, feminine parts, nor curvy waists or long flowing hair, just impressively built muscles. It was when Buzz paid particular attention to the evil agents face that he realised that... Great Venus, the other man was handsome. Warp had a sharp jawline that most other men would struggle to attain with surgery, his Adam's apple stood out marvellously against the rest of his skin, his facial hair was neatly maintained and his eyes had that sharp yellow glint to them that reminded people of his catlike ancestry. But most of all, the final nail in the coffin was the fact that Warp held every single quality he liked in someone's personality; a fiery determination, some snark and pride about who they were in every manner.

If Warp had been born a woman, then Buzz would have likely long ago tried to court the other... So, considering that he did seem to be aesthetically pleasing to him, Buzz found himself wondering what was exactly stopping him from pursuing the other.

"What, do you have something else to say?" Warp seemed to challenge Buzz yet again, noticing his close attention not long after Buzz had come to his internal realisation. Perhaps it was curiosity, or perhaps it was nothing more than wanting to have the proud idea that _he_ was the one to wipe the smirk off Warp's face, Buzz found himself leaning over the table and planting a kiss against the other's smarmy lips. True to what Buzz had expected, the smirk had immediately left the moment he had done that, but he hadn't expected the other to pause for a second (giving him one of those probing looks that he could remember from the Valentine’s day they had shared) before rising from the table.

The space ranger wondered for a second whether his action was making the other storm out of the bar, but it became clear when Warp circled around their table that it was not the case. In fact, the circling movement reminded him of a shark, lion or other animal stalking their prey, which only further got proven when he glanced even a little bit upwards and noticed the animalistic glint in Warp's grin. Taking two fistfuls of Buzz's offensively bright coloured Hawaiian shirt, Warp easily lifted the other out of the chair he had been perched in, before slamming his former partner against the wall behind him.

A number of the other bar patrons turned their heads with the loud noise startling them for a second, but their slight worry about the two having another spat got proven to be entirely wrong when they saw Warp lean forward and furiously kiss the space ranger trapped against the wall. It seemed to be that Warp was not the only one who had been watching Buzz's progress into realising his feelings, as those regular bar-goers who recognised him from before gave some low cheers with their happiness for the two, before politely turning their heads away with pleased grins on their faces.

Buzz found himself overwhelmed at the sensation at first, as Warp's rough tongue rubbing over his lips was certainly a new sensation. It was nowhere near as painful as it had been when an actual cat had licked him once (he supposed he should thank the fact that Warp's father was a human after all), but it certainly was a bit... Odd. Even more odd was the fact that when Warp pulled away to give the less experienced kisser some room to breathe, Buzz could distinctly hear a reverberation coming from his partner's throat that reminded him of a low, sultry purr. Or perhaps he should have been using a different word to describe the experience, as it was more down to the fact that it had been the first time that he had experienced it rather than disliking it.

"Wait, hah... Aren't you confused as to why I suddenly kissed you?" Buzz still found himself curious as to how Warp had jumped several steps ahead in the terms of flirting with someone, as most people took things a little slower. At the very least, most women he had been with had been a bit more chaste, so he supposed that it might have been the very first time that he had a romantic partner who had been more confident than him.

"Buzz, I'm perfectly fine with whatever bullshit reason you give me" Warp certainly wasn't worried about the 'how's or 'why's, which was a quality that Buzz had known about for a long time. There often were times that he was envious about how self-assured Warp was, and this scenario was another one of them. "It could be something as simple as that you were curious or something as abstract as that you hit your head, but I've been waiting too many years to worry about that right now"

Despite his words portraying a sense of impatience, Warp seemed to wait a little bit, resting the bridge of his nose against Buzz's and waiting to hear whether the other was actually up for what Warp was suggesting. Buzz mulled it over in his mind, as he knew that asking questions about the seriousness of the situation would be met with another one of 'those looks'.

"I'm... I guess I'm curious" Buzz admitted after questioning himself about how such an endeavour would go. Frankly, he didn't know whether the night was going to end in utter disaster, but the thought of turning it down seemed to unsettle him more than those other thoughts in the back of his mind. His affirmative answer (or at least, Warp seemed to take it as affirmative) earned him another insistent kiss from the other, this time feeling the rough tongue rub against his own, before the two broke apart again.

"How curious?" Whether he was doing it out of a slight worry of overstepping after all of these years or because of that endless need to tease the other, Warp was taking his time to ensure that he wasn't roping the other into something far out of his depth. While he was being patient, the evil agent was more than pleased to hear the response come immediately from the other without a hint of hesitation.

"Very" Buzz pulled the metaphorical pin on the unstable grenade that was their relationship before. Whatever came after that would largely depend on how the two of them handled themselves, but Warp had a good feeling about it.

"Good" Warp purred with his satisfaction of that word, finally releasing Buzz from the wall of the bar. The evil agent, while preferring the familiar territory of his moon base, knew that it was much further away. It would only serve to make the space ranger more nervous in the trip back home, so he made the decision to sacrifice his comfort for the other's, settling for going to Buzz's home instead. "Your place?"

"Sounds good" Buzz agreed, placing his hands around the others waist (it was an old habit with his previous female lovers, and he was pleased to note that Warp wasn't bothered by the movement) before directing him out of the bar. With him being the clueless person that he was occasionally, he still missed the other bar patrons giving a wide smile and/or thumbs up towards Warp. They had learned via casual conversation with the evil agent his history with his partner, and they couldn't be happier for him now that it was looking up for him.


	4. Buzz Lightyear, Personal Log: Learning New Techniques

Warp had been correct about the trip back home; he could tell that Buzz had begun to grow nervous and fidgety in the taxi back home. Not only did it come down to the ride back home (which honestly seemed to take far longer than usual, but perhaps that was their mutual impatience talking), but the evil agent had realised partway through the ride that the both of them had been unfortunate enough to get the same driver that he had threatened only one solar day prior. No amount of threats would stop the suspicious looks being directed that way, so Warp simply found himself still locked into that old fashioned embrace (with Buzz's fingers tapping against his hip in a slight uncomfortable gesture), hoping that the time it would take wouldn't change Buzz's mind.

Thankfully, the ride was nowhere near as long as it had truly felt to the two of them, dropping them directly in front of the space rangers home based on the instructions that the evil agent had given the previous solar night. Buzz had even attempted to turn around and pay the man, but he long since dashed away in fear of retribution by the man he was leading home.

Warp had to reluctantly let the other's arm go for the time being, watching him unlock the alarms on his house. Besides the typical facial and retina scanners that were common place within their time, he found himself smiling softly to himself when he spied what Buzz had for his numerical code; Warp's Birthday date. It reminded him of the academy; when he had told the naive space ranger that using his own birthday on everything was just begging for people to be able to break into his stuff... And in response, Buzz had just blissfully changed all of the passwords over to his partner's one instead. Whether Buzz had been doing it on purpose or simply from habit, it was... Endearing, to see that it hadn't changed.

The door opened for the both of them, and after the initial instance of Buzz having to dispel his somewhat eager cleaning robots that neither of them were intruding, Warp could see the momentary lull in their atmosphere. Buzz truly had lost most of his nerve in the trip home, his mind reminding him that he was woefully unprepared for whatever the two of them were doing. Did the space ranger even know how sex worked between men?

"So..." Buzz nervously tried to start a conversation, anything just to not have that awkward silence in the air. Warp grinned; as he had hit the nail directly on the head about how inexperienced the other was (as far as Warp was aware, Buzz would have been a virgin). But luckily for them both, the former partner simply found that the blushing visage to be adorable in place of annoying. "I... Uh, I don't really..."

"Don't stress too much about it, we won't do anything that you are uncomfortable with" Warp allayed his fears, gently pulling the other to him and kissing the nervous partner in a gentle manner. While he had often dreamed (and frankly, fantasized it quite often) of managing to bed the other, he was not so callous as to immediately throw the other in the deep end. He was relieved to notice that the stiff stick-figure like stance of the other relaxed a little in his grip, kissing him back in a way that only conveyed a kind of curious eagerness to it. "Do you have somewhere we can move this to?"

"Oh, uh... We have either my couch or my bed" Buzz absentmindedly recited the two locations that he knew about, but he certainly was surprised to note the shock in the other's eyes at the very first suggestion that he had brought up. "What?"

"The couch? Isn't that more of a thing used only for people who are more confident in their partners?" Warp found the idea of the leather couch unappealing, as not only was it leather, but it would extremely uncomfortable for both partners while they were figuring things out.

"...I've used the couch before" Buzz had to admit that with a bit of an embarrassed grin, and he quickly could see the combination of disgust and slight... Hurt in Warp's eyes. The evil agent was not stupid; if Buzz was referring to using the couch in the past then it would have undoubtedly been a woman rather than a man... Which didn't sit well in his gut. Somehow, Buzz felt that it was his responsibility to fix the momentary pain he had caused the other, as he had never realised in the past how envious the other had gotten with how many women caught Buzz's eye. "Only kissing, I promise!"

"I sure hope so, I hear stains are horrible to get out leather" Warp returned quite easily back to his teasing side, but he was silently relieved to hear that he wouldn't exactly have to contend with other thoughts swirling around in Buzz's mind. Buzz scoffed, lightly punching the other in the shoulder as his only way to get back at the latter, earning him a hearty laugh from the other. "Alright bud, lead the way"

This time, they were equally pleased to note the loss of anxiety in Buzz's movements, as the space ranger gently took the hand of the other and lead him through the house until they found the spacious bedroom. Warp was admittedly unsure what to make of the gentle nature which he was being treated with, as he had always imagined the other to be a bit rougher... Or perhaps that was simply what he had been hoping for.

The moment the door was closed Warp used their linked hand to pull the other back toward him, initiating another tender kiss between them both. While he was eager to use his tongue as much as possible, he also knew that using the appendage in excess would cause an irritated sensation across the majority of people's skin because of the rough texture of it all. So far however, he was pleased to see that Buzz didn't seem very put off by it; quite the opposite, as he could feel the insistence behind Buzz's own movements in search of the elusive appendage.

Wanting to progress their escapade beyond just kissing (not only would it be some sort of petty mental victory in Warp's mind that he got further with _the_ Buzz Lightyear than other women did, he also knew from some odd stories within the academy that Buzz often didn't progress further than that stage), Warp carefully pulled off one of the movements that he knew from sparring; spinning the other around until Warp could throw Buzz onto the closest edge of the bed.

Buzz landed with a bit of a _thump_ against the bed, silently thanking his earlier decision to get a bed that was soft and bouncy rather than a harder one like they had back at Star Command. He wanted to sit up and make some remark about the other pulling that off without informing him, when he got taken by surprise by the other kneeling beside the bed, situating himself directly between his two legs that were hanging over the bed.

"Just lay back and relax, I'm more than happy to make you see stars" Warp already answered Buzz's unspoken question about what he was exactly doing there, even cheekily adding in a reference to the other's quite strong infatuation with space. But even as his partner started to unclip the buttons and unzip the fly on the pants he was wearing, Buzz had to admit that he was... Uncertain about it. Not only was it something that had never really been done to him (most of his female partners admitted that they weren't really into it, and Buzz was a gentleman in the sense that he never expected them to do anything that they were uncomfortable with), but Buzz was possibly considered to be one of those really old fashioned people in the sense that he never really liked doing _nothing_ while he was with a partner.

 _"Well... He said that he was more than happy to do it"_ Some other part of his mind reasoned why it was alright to just observe and enjoy what was being done, as of course; he _was_ curious about what being with Warp was like. And so, with Buzz stating no objections, Warp took it as the other being fine with it.

A small uncomfortable grunt escaped his throat when his dick sprang loose from it's confines, one of his hands tightly clenching his own thigh while the other rested over one of his eyes as though to avoid looking at the sight. It was only when he felt another hand comfortably rubbing against the inside of his other thigh that he glanced back down, seeing Warp give him a gentle gaze.

"Relax" The other repeated as a mantra, reminding the other that this wasn't going to be some sort of uncomfortable experience. Furthermore, Warp moved one of his hands to gently peel Buzz's hand on his thigh away, allowing the two differing hands to intertwine comfortably with each other. Even with that hand being metal, Warp could still sense the fingers interlocked there from the fine-tuned nerve system that the grubs had installed (if there was one thing that they could both say about evil, is that they certainly didn't skimp on expenses), and he found that he enjoyed the feeling of the other's fingers there quite a bit.

With Buzz as relaxed as he could make it, Warp purposefully built up the saliva in his mouth before opening it, allowing the liquid to drip out of his mouth from his tongue until it landed on the head of Buzz's dick. While the other wasn't sure what that exactly was supposed to help with, he realised shortly afterward when Warp moved his tongue in a circular motion over the head, using the liquid as not only a lubricant against the rough feeling of his tongue but to make every other movement smoother. It served to send waves of pleasure slowly up his body until they registered fully in Buzz's mind, already working their magic to enthral him.

Taking his left hand away from Buzz's thigh, Warp started to gently grasp the shaft of the other, slowly stroking up and down it as the member began to grow fully erect. Most partners usually would stroke in an odd manner (likely because the majority of Buzz's partners were female after all, so they had little experience with what was pleasurable on a set of male genitals), Warp knew exactly what he was doing simply because he was the same gender, comfortably stroking his dick in way that only someone experienced would pull off. Once it was completely standing straight up, Warp seemed to lick his lips hungrily, before opening his mouth wide and taking the entire head along with about a third of his dick past his lips.

Buzz nearly found himself bucking his hips instinctively at the sudden sensation, both the warm and soft notes of the other mouth being like absolute rapture. As an apology for nearly shoving it further into the others mouth, Buzz brought his hand that was loosely hovering over his eyes down to the back of Warp's head, gently petting and entangling into the short dark curls as an appreciative gesture. When Warp tilted his head slightly to glance up at Buzz, did the latter see just how much the former was enjoying the experience as well. He wasn't exactly sure why, but Warp was absolutely _loving_ having the other deep within his mouth, even going further as to try and take the other into his throat as well after his gag reflex relaxed a bit to allow the member passage.

Truthfully, Buzz was in absolute heaven as well, gritting his teeth together as Warp suddenly purred with the member in his throat. The reverberations caused both of his hands to tighten, tugging on not only the finger locked into his left hand but lightly scratching the back of Warp's head to show how well the other was working. It was only when Warp groaned a particular uncomfortable note that Buzz seemed to become somewhat worried, thinking possibly that the other was going overboard.

"Warp... Warp, are you alright?" Buzz asked his partner, only realising partway through that it was somewhat silly to be asking someone a question when their mouth and throat were _literally_ full of dick. He did have to wait for Warp to relax his throat again, the evil agent slowly drawing his mouth off until he could actually speak somewhat coherently.

"M'yeah, I'm fine" Warp assured the other that everything was alright, despite the slight rasp he had developed in his throat from it trying to recover from the intrusion (no matter how much he had planned for it, it still happened). "Armour's just a bit tight, ya know?"

Buzz glanced downward on the other, realising that the entire time they had been fooling around Warp had still been in his entire metal armour from neck to toe (it would be head to toe, but the evil agent always found it such a shame to hide away his handsome face). While the armour did a good job in hiding his erections, the space ranger can't have imagined that it would be comfortable in the slightest.

"Don't you want to take it off?" Buzz asked him, but was surprised when he got a shake of the head from the other. It was as though Warp was completely disregarding his own comfort for the other's sake... And that, was absolutely not attractive to Buzz. While it certainly had been enjoyable what Warp was doing, Buzz felt the most comfortable when his partner was enjoying themselves just as much as he was, and he certainly liked the feeling he got when he knew that _he_ was the one causing them pleasure. "Here, come sit here and take your pelvic guard off"

By "here", Buzz was referring to his lap, patting the fleshy part of his thighs to indicate that location was going to be good. He even was gently pulling the other up, using their still linked flesh and metal hands to help the other. Warp however, was not entirely sure about it. It was like a reversal of their previous situation, with one trying to convince the other that the next following situation was going to be perfectly fine.

"...Buzz, you know I'm going to be really heavy, right?" Warp wanted to make sure that the other knew that, as not only was Warp ever so slightly taller and more muscular than the other, he certainly was the one still wearing an entire set of armour; that was how they had gotten to this conversation in the first place after all. Buzz nodded his head, a confident smile on his face that said that he could handle it... While the evil agent was certain that he was just going to be squashed under the weight. "I'm perfectly fine with just giving you a blowjob"

"Well, _I'm_ not. I want you to enjoy yourself too" Buzz insisted, the both of them reaching a stalemate in terms of how stubborn they could both be. Warp sighed, being the first one to give in because he wanted to make sure that the space ranger was more comfortable, shifting himself off his knees and using his spare left hand to undo the pelvic guard. Underneath the black pelvic guard, it was clear to the both of them that Warp was sporting his own erection, the member struggling at the final layer of Warp's skin tight bodysuit. "Oh, of course. How would you like to-

Impatient, Warp disregarded the material and tore it away from his midriff so that he could lower it without any problems. Buzz nearly found himself laughing at how much Warp's tune was changing from being uncaring about his own release to suddenly wanting it to be touched, but interrupted himself when he glanced closer at Warp's member.

" _Is... Is that bigger than mine?"_ Buzz started to compare the two as Warp carefully climbed onto the bed, the latter taking measures to place his knees around Buzz's legs so that the majority of the weight was still falling on the bed instead of the partner, before slowly sitting on the lap of the other. Upon closer inspection, it was true; Warp's dick was ever so slightly bigger than his own, both in girth and full height. The only real difference beyond that was the fact that Warp's curved ever so slightly towards his own stomach... But still, Buzz found it odd considering the fact that his own member wasn't exactly small.

"Seeing as this was your idea, what's your plan?" Warp distracted Buzz from the different sizes between them both, as of course Warp was out of the loop as to what exactly turned Buzz on. He already felt a little out of his depth considering how... Intimate the position was between them, and this only grew when Buzz carefully reached around to grasp his own member. "...Ah"

"Is this alright?" The space ranger asked him, and Warp decided that it was best to give him his answer by simply copying what Buzz had done, reaching around with his left hand and returning his hand to Buzz's shaft. Buzz could notice that Warp was giving him that elusive look again, his eyes oddly shy in comparison to usual, so he decided that it was best to simply start.

Buzz went for a technique that he knew that he liked himself, carefully curling his fingers around the thicker blue shaft and giving his stokes a slight twisting motion as he went up and down, which he quickly noticed that the other enjoyed when Warp bit his lip impatiently and groaned a low note under his breath. While the both of them certainly knew what worked for themselves, that didn't exactly mean that it was common for the other, which gave them that feeling of confidence in their movements while keeping that feeling of surprise that you could often only get from someone unfamiliar.

Not only that, but Buzz was also discovering several new things about his partner. First and foremost, Warp was _loud_ ; as the moment he didn't have something blocking his throat he started to make several more alluring noises that the other didn't expect to come from his lips. This served Buzz to start experimenting on just how lurid he could get his partner, eager to hear more. A firm press against the head of his dick made Warp elicit a high moan that almost resembled a whine, and when his hands wandered low enough to cup and play with his balls he got a breathless rendition of his name along with several pleads on how it felt good or was in just the right location.

Perhaps that was why Warp was so insistent on putting the other partner first during the experience, as it became quite clear that Warp was becoming unhinged much faster than Buzz was. While Warp was getting to the point of shifting his hips to match the movements that he was making, Buzz was intently drawn into making the other reach nirvana first, watching in a ravenous manner as Warp began to throw his head back as he moaned wantonly.

Realising quite quickly that Warp had stalled in his own movements due to the pleasure he was receiving, Buzz paused for a brief second to shift Warp closer to him, the latter whining loudly at the sudden halt in his climb. It was only when Buzz brought their still linked flesh and metal hands toward their pressed together members that Warp understand what the space ranger was trying to do, with one of them giving a very weak defence as to why it wouldn't work.

"Hah... The metal... Hah, the metal won't feel good" Warp weakly spoke, it being obvious that the majority of his breath was spent on the orchestra of noises he was making earlier, and struggling to regain himself momentarily in the pause. But even when he was making excuses, Buzz knew that he wasn't trying to say that he wanted to stop, the warmth and pulsing coming from the member in his hands supported that truth quite well.

"Oh, you're right" Buzz realised that the other was correct, as the metal gleam of his hands did look a little... Sharp for his liking to be near the sensitive members. The fix was quite simple however, as Buzz shifted his hands until they were exclusively surrounding both members (he had a feeling that the other was going to stall as it was when they began again), letting Warp's hands comfortably rest around the outside of his warm set. "There we go, problem solved"

"Hah... But, you-HAAHH!!" Warp got interrupted before the end of his sentence, as the sudden movement around their sensitive members caused him to skyrocket right back to the same feeling of euphoria he had reached before. If it wasn't for the fact that Warp had thrown his head back again, he likely would have spotted the wolfish grin on Buzz's face, as the latter truly felt that this was simply another one of their competitions with each other; and _he_ was winning.

But it wasn't going to be so simple, as a moment later Warp brought his head down, burying it in the crook of Buzz's shoulder. Whether it was because he was embarrassed about the noises he was producing or simply wanted to drown himself in the sweat and familiar scent of the other, he was certainly more than comfortable there. But with the continued combination of wailing, moaning and begging being essentially delivered directly into the other's ear, it certainly seemed as if it wasn't going to be so simple for the space ranger to last longer than the other. Because frankly, if there was one thing that got Buzz's motor running, it was hearing the absolute pleasure coming from his partner and _knowing_ that it was because of _him_.

"Craters! Buzz, I'm-Hahh!" Buzz hadn't experienced it much, but he could recognise the tell-tale signs of when his partner was reaching the end, which only served to make one of his hands pull away from their combined flesh to find the others face. In a move that was clearly more romantic than simply sexual, Buzz made sure to find the other's face and lift it in such a manner so that he could deeply kiss the other, before hurriedly moving his hands to make the other finally reach that climax. Warp's own metal hand shot up to find the back of Buzz's head, accidentally scratching the purple hood that the other somehow was always wearing, before using it to insistently deepen their kiss, wanting to be buried in the others lips as he came.

With a muffled shout, Buzz could feel the other tremble and spasm within his fingers, spending a good while just coming down from his high afterwards. Using the sudden rush of euphoria from getting his partner off, Buzz switched his hands over to his own member, still idly kissing his partner as he got himself to the end a couple of moments later.

Thoroughly spent, Buzz allowed the two of them to fall onto the bed for a second, letting their energy recuperate for a moment. After glancing down for a second, he was somewhat relieved to see that the clean-up between them was going to be quite simple, as the both of them were largely clothed the entire time. While being careful to not man-handle his partner too much, he worked to disrobe them both, flinging their combined soiled clothing into the hamper nearby to be washed by the cleaning robots (he didn't think they were aware of what the stains would be as it was, but he silently apologised anyway). After returning a moment later with a fresh blanket, he flung it over Warp (who had fallen asleep in what seemed to be a blissful state) before crawling underneath it to rest alongside him for the solar night.

...What Buzz did miss however, was the evil agent waking up an hour or so later. Without a word, Warp slipped out from the bed and collected the parts of his armour that were important, before deciding to head home.

 _"Don't get too attached Warp"_ The former space ranger repeated that mantra within his mind as he glanced over at his partner, who was still fast asleep. " _After all, this was just curiosity to him. At the end of the day, he's still going to be returning to Star Command... So just make it easier on him"_

With a silent thought about how he should be thankful that he even got to experience this with him, Warp knew that the chances of him being able to return to Star Command or even keep such a relationship with Buzz going were close to zero. He got the opportunity to taste the forbidden fruit, but keeping it... Was another thing entirely.


	5. Buzz Lightyear, Personal Log: Cover Blown

Buzz Lightyear was not awoken by the sounds of chirping birds, nor the gentle aroma of coffee being brewed downstairs. Not even the thrum of ships and engines like he was used to at Star Command, instead he was awoken by... The sounds of his cleaning robots hurriedly scurrying in and taking away the laundry hamper. He grumbled, feeling somewhat sleep deprived due to his eventful night, the memories of which started to slowly bleed back into his mind. Buzz found one of his hands naturally stirring through the soft sheets, searching for the warmth of his partner... Only to find that he couldn't find them.

The hand soon got assisted with a single eye opening to help search for Warp, which eventually became two when he noticed that his search for the other was fruitless. Warp was no longer in his bed, likely sneaking out after he had gotten some meagre rest. As to exactly _why_ he had left, well, Buzz frankly never understood the 'why's and 'how's of how the evil agent worked.

But even as it became clear that the other had left without telling him, Buzz found that aching feeling in his heart returning. It was like the day that he had discovered that Warp had turned to the side of evil all over again, with only a single thought overriding all others just like it had; how he was supposed to get him back. While it certainly felt silly to try and go back to that same gay bar that they had seen each other at several times, well... He had been lucky several times over, hadn't he? What was the harm in trying it one more time?

Stumbling over himself in how quickly he found some other civilian clothes to wear (he began to wonder a little why he had so many Hawaiian shirts, as it wasn't like he ever had been there), he raced down the stairs to leave. As he punched in the lock for his house for what felt like the millionth time since he had gone on shore leave, he noticed that the automatic scanner had told him that the last time someone had left his house was only a number of hours before the solar dawn. Warp hadn't been gone long then, which meant that there was the higher chance that the evil agent had yet to return to his work.

The moment he stepped outside he found himself squinting at the sun that shone directly into his eyes, threatening to blind him if he took too long to cover them with his hands. While simply going for another walk (it was likely going to be closer to a run, considering how much of a hurry Buzz was in) sounded quite simple, he wanted to have speed on his side this time. He always had used his smaller body to get around Warp's larger muscles and taller body during sparring, so it felt even more right to do so when he took out a remote to open his garage.

Right in the garage was his pride and joy, still adorned with what others would refer to as corny decals in the form of flames running down the side of it. After promising himself that he would never eject his former partner from the passenger seat again, he climbed in and turned the vehicle on, before moving off towards the city.

Part of him wondered whether it was a silly idea to take his ride, considering the fact that he got caught in the early solar morning traffic of hard working citizens simply trying to get to work, but he found himself getting lucky as the bar was soon directly in sight. After settling his ride down into an unmarked parking location, he found himself hesitating for the first time in front of the sign that read 'Echo Fibre'.

" _...If Warp is inside, what am I supposed to say?"_ Truthfully, Buzz was not worried about being seen entering the gay bar, as he found it a silly notion to treat others wrong for their interest in others... But he wasn't exactly sure why Warp had left in the first place, so he felt akin to storming Zurg's planet in terms of uncertainty. Scratch that, Buzz was quite certain that dealing with Zurg would be far easier, as at least he knew where he stood with the Evil Emperor. After steeling his nerves, Buzz decided to walk right on in.

Yet again, the music had changed in his absence. Now no longer having the piano and violin music to soothe him, there was a soft pop melody playing in the background of the dimly lit purple lights they had chosen that solar day. When he craned his head slightly to hear the music better, he found that it was some kind of corny love song (the kind that Booster secretly liked, despite the young space ranger often denying it if he was asked about it), and Buzz found himself momentarily wondering whether the universe - or fate - was egging him on in some manner.

"Oh hey, it's you!" One of the regular bar goers recognised Buzz again, waving politely to him despite the fact that the both of them were still strangers. They didn't know each other’s names, but even Buzz found himself waving and smiling like they were well acquainted. Perhaps it was the sense of comradery that came from possibly being seen as different because of their long standing (or newly discovered) sexuality. "Is your boyfriend alright? He came here a little bit ago, and he looks really down. We saw you two leaving yesterday, so I'm guessing that things didn't go exactly to plan"

At the news of Warp being in the bar, a sense of hope bubbled up within the space ranger’s chest. True enough, when he glanced over towards their table, Warp was sitting there, glumly staring down into a glass of some bright fruity drink.

"We're trying to sort things out currently" Buzz kept his answer brief, as he couldn't imagine that his partner was too keen on broadcasting their relationship struggles with each other to some random stranger. Whether by accident or on purpose, Buzz didn't deny or correct the other on Warp being his boyfriend, which the bar goer found himself smiling at. "I care about him, but I just think he's having some difficulty seeing that"

"That certainly sounds like what we've seen of him in here" The bar goer made polite conversation, but he could see from the slight impatient tick in the other that Buzz was hoping to speed along the conversation. Of course, as Buzz was here for his partner, but was too polite to cut someone off while they were talking to him. "Go on, take care of him"

Buzz found himself saluting at the person, taking the words as an order simply because they were exactly what he had wanted to hear from someone. When he turned around and confidently strode across the floor of the bar, he could feel himself realising exactly why he was here... And why he had been so insistent on trying to get Warp to switch back over to the side of good.

Forget curiosity, Buzz was absolutely head over heels for the other man. While it had been a confusing set of emotions during his academy years (and the time after it, as he had always imagined the other to be a kind of womaniser rather than into men), it was quite easy to attach his newly found romantic interest in the other along with the unparalleled platonic ones he had always felt for Warp. Wanting him by his side again, working together, desiring to see him safe... Those didn't feel all that dissimilar to the ones he felt right in that moment of time. Whether he wanted to hear it, Buzz felt that he wanted - no, _needed -_ to tell the other about how he felt. Even if Warp were to turn around and say that it all meant nothing to him, then at the very least Buzz could say that he had honestly tried.

When Buzz stood directly at their table - good old number 37 - he was surprised to see that Warp had yet to notice him there. Usually the space ranger would have waited for the other to invite him to sit beside him like he had always done, but this time it was _him_ who was impatient to be with the other, so Buzz took the uncharacteristically rude route of sitting down right away. His partner landing in the chair did finally cause Warp to become aware that someone had approached his table, and once his sharp catlike eyes noticed the stupidly confident space ranger across from him, he audibly groaned.

"Craters, you were the last person that I was hoping to see" Warp groaned, as he had only come to the bar for a final drink before his work began the next solar day. But of course, he should have expected that Buzz was not the kind of things to casually let things go (Zurg's blasted pen could attest to that).

"Because it's easier to ignore the problem, isn't it?" Buzz's retort was hurtful in its entirety, but neither of them could deny that it was accurate. Warps' only response to the remark was to huff haughtily, wondering just how much more complicated this was going to make their relationship when they both returned to their jobs. What he didn't expect however, was for Buzz to reach across the table and gently peel away one of Warp's hands from his glass, nestling it comfortably between his hands in a loving gesture. "I came here because I want to make this work somehow"

"...This?" Warp asked him, gesturing carefully between the both of them with his remaining flesh hand, while also trying not to slosh the drink over the rims of the cup and onto the table. Buzz nodded his head seriously, as of course the space ranger never said things that he didn't mean (he actually did occasionally, but those were about as rare as him breaking the rules of Star Command; once in a blue moon). Buzz could spy the beginnings of hope building up in his partner’s eyes, but the very next moment it seemed as if the evil agent had quashed them in fear of being hurt yet again by circumstance. "Don't be ridiculous Lightyear, there's no way that Star Command would accept that sort of relationship from their top ranger"

"I know that you've been hurt in the past because of those rules, as well as... As well as Nebula's reaction to finding out the truth, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't try to make a change" Buzz wasn't giving up, determined to actually make a proper effort out of it even if his partner was reluctant on it. Even if Warp were to wash his hands completely clean of the other, Buzz still would undoubtedly be attempting to change the rules so that everyone was treated equally within the academy and beyond... And Warp knew this well, so his continued protests soon were starting to sound like nothing more than fear guiding him. "We don't have to mention our relationship to anyone if it truly makes you uncomfortable. Warp, I... I just want to be with you"

That sense of hope returned to Warp, the emotions that he had long considered to be foolish and childish in equal measures returning just as strongly as they had been when he was in the academy. Except for the simple fact that this time, he didn't have the overriding sense of fear that was present back then; the uncomfortable feeling that he had to hide who he really was in fear of not only retribution from his commanding officer, but scorn from his fellow cadets. No, in all sense of the manner, this time was different; Buzz knew... And he was accepting him for who he was.

Warp wanted to be able to pull his metal fingers back to use to to pick his skin, testing whether the current situation was just another one of his long standing fantasies come to life within a dream. Unfortunately for him, his hand was still firmly secured between Buzz's ones, so he had to settle for using some of his sharp canines to lightly prick into his bottom lip. When that familiar sting of pain flared up, he knew that he wasn't imagining this. The moment his brain fully registered everything as the truth, it was far too late to bury those feelings of hope, them spreading all throughout his body in a sheer buzz of euphoria. His partner (in possibly more ways than just the typical, if he accepted Buzz's proposal of being together) was still patiently waiting for his answer, doing nothing more than lovingly rubbing his thumbs up and down his fine-tuned metal fingers in a way that couldn't be misinterpreted as simply a gesture used for friends.

"Buzz?" Someone foreign calling out the space ranger's name caused the two men to finally take their attention off one another, noticing that... Buzz's entire team had somehow found the two of them, with the feminine voice belonging to nobody else than Mira Nova. It was then that Warp finally yanked his hand free from the other's grasp, hoping in a last ditch effort that they would think it was something else going on; that Buzz wouldn't get in trouble from his co-workers blabbing about his "impure" relationships. "XR said that he was worried about you, so we decided to come visit you to check up on you. On our way to your house we saw your car parked outside here, so... That's how we got here"

Warp cursed the universe for the extreme bad luck that he was experiencing. Not only were the three fledgling space rangers still clad in their bright white space suits - meaning that the chances of him getting arrested were quite high as it was - but they had come at exactly the wrong time, and ruined what might have been the thing that he had been wishing for since the day he had realised his affections for their leader.

Unlike all of the other times that he had run into a situation such as this one however, Buzz was on his side; starting the difficult discussion by doing nothing more than reaching out with his hands once more to take Warp's metal hand back into his. Warp's eyes naturally returned to look at Buzz, asking him without words whether he understood what he was doing. He received back the same confident stare that he had earned before; telling him that Buzz truly was ready. The evil agent was quite used to running away, whether it was in the literal or psychological sense, so both he and Buzz knew that it was far more courageous for him to stay... Which he did, gently curling his metal fingers around the rough versions that he recognised from Buzz oh so well.

"Have a seat; we have a lot to talk about" Buzz invited for the other three space rangers to sit around the table, which one person did. XR didn't seem to take a seat, but that was purely because his legs were comprised of rolling slats akin to those on a tank, which meant that he didn't necessarily need one (besides, the robot often preferred to stand to make up for his generally diminutive size compared to his teammates). And Booster, well, he had a problem with the size of the seats that were situated around the table.

"Uh... Is there anything in my size?" The younger member of the trio asked both Buzz and Warp, as he wasn't exactly sure which one of two knew the bar better.

"Two tables that way, a Raenok often likes to visit and they have a special chair for him" Warp gestured to a specific table that indeed did have a far larger chair for use, and it appeared to be that the typical resident of the furniture was not there at the time to make use of it. Booster seemed unsure what to make of the helpfulness of the evil agent, quietly apologising and thanking him in equal measures before darting off to retrieve the chair. It was only once he was back that XR's curiosity seemed to peak, the little robot asking a question long before either the evil agent or space ranger could formulate their thoughts on how they wanted to start the discussion.

"So, you and Warp, eh?" XR asked his leader with a cheeky grin, one of the metal pieces of above his optics rising a bit as though he was raising an eyebrow at them both. While being a little surprised to hear how casual his robotic teammate was treating it, Buzz did find it quite easy to nod at his question, to which the space ranger was even more surprised to hear the chipper tone still continuing in his speech. "Neat!"

"...You're not surprised?" Buzz asked him, as while he was relieved to hear that one out of three was not making a big deal out of things, he did find that his sense of curiosity won out in contrast to simply accepting it. XR extended his legs ever so slightly so that he was able to see better over the table, before leaning somewhat on it with a look that Buzz could only describe as a shi... A very confident grin.

"Buzz, look at me. I'm a robot" XR pointedly reminded the older space ranger, making sure that the latter understood that he already didn't see things the same way most species would because of how he had been made. "Do I really look like I care what kind of attachments you or your partner have?"

"Gender, XR. The word you're looking for is gender" Buzz corrected the younger space ranger, but XR did that twirly thing with his wrist that signified that he didn't particularly care about whether he was using the wrong word for it. And Buzz supposed that he was right; it was the message behind XR's words that were important in the moment.

"Eh, gender, attachments, same thing to me. The point I'm making is that I don't think there's anything wrong with the two of you having some kind of relationship" XR directed the point of the subject back to the original meaning behind it, before turning his optics to look at the equally surprised Warp sitting across from Buzz. "Unless he treats you badly. In that case, you and I are going to have trouble mister!"

"Noted" While Warp had never been lectured by a robot in his life, he supposed that the solar day they were experiencing was weird enough anyway to make it sound trivial. With the evil agent sufficiently warned, XR pulled away his arms to not lean on the table, letting the other two space rangers say their piece.

"I, uh... I'm not really sure what to feel" Booster had never really encountered people who weren't heterosexual, and it seemed to be even more strange to him that his own leader was different than most. Even so, he still was the nicest guy they had ever known, which meant that the chances of him hating someone because he didn't know how to feel were quite low. "Buzz, does this mean you don't like women?"

"See, I don't think so" Buzz took that question quite seriously, using his spare left hand to stroke his neatly shaven chin in thought about how he actually felt on the matter. If he had been asked the previous solar day, he likely would have done nothing more than say that women were the only people who were attractive to him, but being with Warp certainly contradicted that. "I do like women, but I want to be in a relationship with Warp"

"That makes you bisexual; that you like both men and women" Warp neatly explained the difference to not only Buzz, but to the equally inexperienced members of his team. To them, the notion of being interested in both of the genders certainly was foreign, likely just as much as the idea of people being exclusively gay. "It's quite normal"

"Oh! Does that mean you're _bisexual_ as well?" Booster asked the evil agent, taking special care to carefully enunciate the new word so that he didn't offend him. Warp chuckled, looking and sounding far closer to the image of himself that the four people around the table knew him better for. Truthfully, the evil agent was laughing because of how naive they all were on the subject, but he decided to be polite this time to not potentially give them the impression that he was going to be rude to Buzz.

"No, I'm gay" Warp bluntly told them, finding it surprising to note how freeing it was to casually mention his orientation without experiencing some kind of negative reaction. It was foreign, that was true, but it was pleasant kind of foreign. "It means I only like men, with a particular fondness for confident, snarky space rangers"

The meaning behind those words seemed to momentarily fly over both XR and Booster's heads, but Mira understood it straight away. Truthfully, she was also unsure about the idea of the two men dating, but closer in line with XR's worry of Warp being abusive rather than any kind of notion of gender or orientation. But, when she saw the bright smile appear on Buzz's face at the compliment; it seemed to be that she didn't have much to worry about.

"Geez, and here I thought you were flirting with Mira every time we ran into you" XR certainly seemed to misunderstand which team Warp was batting for, and it seemed to not only be him as Booster and even Buzz found themselves nodding in agreement. Warp and Mira on the other hand, were extremely put off by the notion.

"Oh, Venus, is that seriously why you thought I was calling her 'Princess'?" Warp asked them in utter disgust, reacting in such a way that he expressly exaggerating how likely he was to throw up at the notion of being attracted to the Tangean space ranger. If it hadn't been obvious before, it certainly was then; the nickname purely had been used to mock her talents on the battlefield. "Yuck!"

"Well, I mean- You're not exactly a catch yourself!" Mira, while grateful that the evil agent was not into her romantically or sexually, he was actually starting to irritate her by implying that she was repulsive to him. Of course, she and Warp knew that it was simply because of her gender than anything else, but her pride felt that she still had to defend herself.

"I mean, I disagree with that remark" Buzz picked the perfect time to slip that into the conversation, earning him an orchestra of different noises ranging from the gagging noise coming from Mira, the startled surprise on Booster's face, the cheeky grin returning to XR's face plate, but most of all; the happy laughter coming from Warp. For the first time in a long while, Warp truly felt like he had returned to Star Command; an ideal version where everyone could be their true selves. "Right now we're keeping our relationship under wraps from people, because I need to first change the impression and negative rules against people with differing sexuality"

"We're more than ready to help you with that Buzz, with both things" Mira saluted her superior, as she knew that gesture was the one to convey the complete respect that they both deserved. And if the salute being returned to her from both men (old habits did die hard, after all) sitting across the table was anything to go by, then they certainly were happy together. "But speaking of Star Command, we need to be heading back right about now"

That was an utter lie; there was no mission or task left to the three space rangers not on shore leave. But if Mira knew relationships well - and she did, she and Romac had proven that quite effectively a number of times - then she knew that the newly formed happy couple would like some... Alone time, now that they were well and truly allowed to be together. While Booster and XR both uttered confused sentences about how they didn't know what Mira was referring to, she managed to successfully herd both of her younger teammates out of the bar and back to Star Command.

With Buzz and Warp sitting there for a moment and taking in the fact that they had not only managed to get together, but also receive the blessing of three people who truly mattered to the former, they suddenly felt as though they had endless time to spend together. That wasn't exactly true, as Warp still had to return to work the very next solar day, but it was more time than they ever had received together. But most of all, Warp no longer had to hide himself like always.

"Come on, let's get some coffee into you" Buzz took the initiative for the two of them to head back to his house, carefully taking the fruity drink away from Warp simply because it was too early in the solar day for it. And while Warp couldn't tell exactly where his partner (he loved the sound of the word now, unsurprisingly) had gotten this surge of confidence from, he couldn't exactly say that he disliked it.

"I'd love to" Warp twisted their still clasped hands a little so that they were more effectively holding hands as they walked out, doing nothing else than casting each other a loving look as they strode out into the sun's rays together.


	6. Buzz Lightyear, Personal Log: Down Time

Buzz handed Warp a mug - one of those ones with a cartoonish drawing, no doubt - the soft aroma of the coffee within fluttering upwards from the cup. Truthfully, it looked like it had too much sugar and milk for his liking (the evil agent preferred his black for the caffeine hit, while Buzz truly was a connoisseur of the flavour in contrast), but he gratefully took a sip from it anyway. He had never really understood that what people talked about in the past about things having "love poured into them", but in that moment it was made clear. Even though the beverage was far from perfect, it seemed to be so simply because Buzz had made it, those feelings of love and care overriding the typical parts of his brain that would pick up on imperfections... Kind of like how the evil agent saw his partner.

"Is it alright?" Buzz asked him, and he immediately received a hum of approval from his partner, the latter of which simply drinking from the coffee quite happily. The space ranger smiled, sitting down beside him on his leather couch to join the other, the two of them spending a moment of their time in comfortable silence; something that they hadn't been able to share in years with one another.

"...You're aware that I'm going back in a day" Warp did feel that it was important for the two to start communicating effectively with each other, as casually disappearing the next day would create quite some rifts. Buzz nodded and hummed a similarly blissful note that Warp had only a moment before that, spelling out that he wasn't worried at all about the two of them meeting each other on the battlefield again. "I just... Don't feel comfortable returning to Star Command just yet"

"I understand" Buzz did his best to reassure his partner that it wasn't hurting him mentally to think of how their arrangement was going to be, and he was confident (and headstrong) enough to not be worried about the physical ramifications of it. After all, the both of them were quite evenly matched in a number of things, so having a sparring/fighting match with one another would likely just end up in a barely won victory or a stalemate as it always did anyway. "I may ask you to pull your punches a little"

"Bah, and let you get sloppy? Never" Warp smirked, that little flair of challenge sparking up between them once again. Buzz found himself returning that same confident stare as he always could do, the two of them giving each other daring looks just above their mugs... Which, now that Buzz thought a bit more about it, was very close to giving each other bedroom eyes. Goodness, he really had been quite daft in the other's advances, hadn't he? "So, how many ladies had you actually even managed to drag all the way to this couch?"

"I didn't drag them, it was voluntary!" Buzz protested the idea of forcing any kind of partner of his to do something, but a closer inspection of Warp's cheeky grin told him that it was meant to tease. But even with the grin, Buzz could see a familiar look in Warp's sleek yellow eyes, spelling out that the evil agent was actually a _little_ curious to see how many there had been. "Only two; Doctor Furbanna and Miss Lepton. The good Doctor said that she couldn't be in a relationship because it would interfere with her work too much, which is fair. Miss Lepton, she eventually admitted that she had only flirted with me to aggravate her father"

"Yikes, they really don't know what they dropped" While Warp naturally found it foolish of a decision, he was secretly glad that neither woman had managed to captivate the space ranger that well. After all, now that both women were out of the picture, Buzz was well and truly open to understanding his own feelings on who he was attracted to; both sexually and romantically. But even with them being gone, there was a slight feeling of jealousy flaring up within Warp's mind, as he could glance over and see his partner be lost in a momentary haze of memories now that he had been reminded of them. "...Hey Buzz"

"Hm?" Buzz was brought out of his mind by Warp calling his name, and he could instantly recognise the lascivious look adorned on the other's face. It had only been a number of solar hours since he had seen that look directed at him, so he could feel that same surge of butterflies flying around in his stomach yet again. He had mistaken it to be curiosity back then, but now he recognised the feeling as for what it truly was; nervous excitement.

Warp slid closer in complete confidence toward the other, quite comfortably taking the mug from the other in a suave move so that the distracted ranger wouldn't possibly drop it over the floor, before using his spare left arm to snake around the other's waist. With Buzz nestled quite nicely into his side, Warp found himself completely unable to resist the chance to kiss his new partner, tasting the vague remnants of crema that still coated his man's lips.

"What prompted this?" Buzz couldn't help but ask his partner when Warp pulled away, the latter hungrily licking his lips to find the last tastes of coffee that came from the other. While the movement wasn't exactly disliked by him, the smile on Buzz's face attested to that nicely, he was wondering why the kiss seemed to come suddenly out of left field.

"If I'm being honest, it's because I'm very possessive. I want your first thought when you're sitting here is not to think back to them, but completely be of me" Warp purred softly as he said that, something that Buzz noticed quite intently. The latter of the two gently brought up his hand until it could loosely rest over the other's neck, which Warp could tell the reasoning why; as he only seemed to intensify the noise to make the vibrations more intense and louder, it running directly up his partner's hand. "And what better way than to captivate you completely?"

And there it was, the slight blush and nervous jitters that the space ranger presented in those situations (only in the beginning, as the evil agent was generally quite placid during the actual act), something that the evil agent loved to see. But just like they had run into before, Buzz was quite green to the act of making love between men, which only got further proven when he glanced all over his partner in a confused stare; unsure what he would even be doing in that situation.

"Pff-Ha! You should see your face" Warp did find it funny, if only because the evil agent knew far more about the situation and found it adorable. Buzz, well, he was beginning to have that competitive part of himself return, something which his larger partner could recognise. "Hmm... For your first time, I'd say that you should probably be the top until you have more knowledge about it. Bottoming might be a bit scary the first time around"

Warp could swear that he could hear Buzz's mind creaking and whirring in an effort to understand what in the Milky Way Warp had just suggested to him. Terms such as topping and bottoming were completely foreign to him after all.

"...What?" Predictably, that was Buzz's only response to Warp's suggestion, which once again caused his partner to laugh heartily.

"Search some things up on the holo-net, you'd be surprised what it could tell you" Warp decided that it was best for his partner to learn about it first, as the evil agent gave his partner a kiss before leaving him in a flirtatious manner. "I'll take a shower to freshen up in the meantime. If you change your mind by the time I'm back, then no worries"

Warp did take a small detour for a split second to drop off the mugs that he had been casually carrying on his fingers, before stalking off upstairs and leaving the space ranger on his own on the couch. While feeling a little belittled (Warp undoubtedly hadn't meant to do that, but he found that his pride had taken a bit of a beating), Buzz did eventually find himself searching for his computer in his study downstairs to search up some of the words that his partner upstairs had been talking about. To his relief, he realised soon that the act of 'topping' meant not much difference for him, but as for bottoming...

 _"That... That looks like it hurts"_ Before long Buzz had inadvertently stumbled onto the typical kind of thing that illustrated in vivid detail about what those terms meant (he felt like such a juvenile, he hated looking at porn), but even as he was watching he found his hands sometimes coming up to cover his eyes in shame. _"Is it supposed to hurt? The person doesn't look like they're in pain, but..."_

"Ah, I knew I'd find you somewhere" Warp startled him greatly when he returned, Buzz nearly jumping from his chair in absolute fright. What he did do was hurriedly shut down what he was looking at, as though it was something to be exceedingly ashamed of. Buzz was about to turn around and blabber some sort of nonsensical excuse, but he got greatly distracted by the sight of Warp fresh from the shower. With only a red towel wrapped around his waist, a healthy view to the glistening muscles on display and the sight of a water droplet dribbling down his partners neck... Well, it certainly shut him up. "You still up for a little escapade?"

"Uh..." Buzz found himself uncertain on how to answer that question, as while he certainly was into the concept of it, he didn't exactly wish to bring harm onto his partner. Warp, the patient man that he was, simply raised an eyebrow to his partner along with a wolfish glint to his smile to indicate that he was more than into the idea. "...Aren't you worried about me hurting you?"

"It doesn't hurt if you do things properly, or take it slow" Warp assured the other man that he at the very least seemed to know what he was doing, which seemed to settle a little badly into his partner's gut. Like Warp, Buzz wasn't exactly sure how to feel about the idea that his partner had gotten around with people in the past... Which gave the latter the surge of confidence that he needed to stand up from his chair and initiate another smoldering kiss between them. After all, Buzz now wanted Warp to also only think of him in place of others, which was reason enough to get over his initial worries. "Hmm, now that's more like it. Do we still want to do couch, or would the bed suit you better?"

"You did say you wanted to captivate me on the couch" Buzz chuckled as he said that, earning him a similar note of merriment from his partner. After finding some vague hints of confidence in the back of his mind, Buzz even found himself whispering something completely scandalous into the slightly pointed ears of the other (he'd likely never dare to say it to someone outside of Warp, but neither man was worried about that). "Besides, I like the idea of railing you over the armrest"

Warp was admittedly not expecting that to ever come out of _the_ Buzz Lightyear's mouth in a million years, but he certainly wasn't complaining. Many similar fantasies and dreams of his had wandered into that sort of territory, but the firm feel of Buzz's arms and hot breath in his ear spelled out that he didn't have to worry about this one being as fake.

With the both of them continuing to kiss each other (with Warp taking care to only use his tongue in limited amounts of one area, he didn't want the other to experience anything beyond pleasure from the appendage), they carefully maneuvered their way out of Buzz's study on their way back towards the couch. Even with Warp being larger and more imposing than the other, he was quite easily relinquishing control to his boyfriend (yet another name that he enjoyed hearing and saying in equal amounts), letting Buzz move him where he pleased. Before long he felt the leather texture of that furniture prickle at the back of his legs, and allowed Buzz to push him down into it.

As Buzz momentarily pulled himself apart to find a comfortable position beside Warp, he knocked over a set of bottles that had been placed on the floor next to the couch with one of his feet. Reaching down to pick one up, he found that it was the particular bottle of lube that he had been keeping in his nightstand in his room (he never had found a need for it before, but he always had the attitude of 'better safe than sorry' in regards to it), and the person who had retrieved it was undoubtedly Warp himself.

"I may have borrowed it for a bit" Warp's words easily made Buzz's cheeks turn red, as the latter started to imagine exactly what he meant by those words. While he had been quite ashamed, he _was_ paying attention to the video he had seen of people 'preparing' themselves for this kind of thing. Warp was playing quite close attention to the other's face as the evil agent removed his metal arm (in case he accidentally scratched something delicate), when a devilish thought occurred to him. "Want to see what I mean?"

While being somewhat gobsmacked, Buzz wordlessly nodded his head. With the go ahead, Warp undid his red towel with his remaining left hand, flinging it away with a flourish. His erection was quite clear to the both of them, it being just barely hidden by the fabric's many folds before, but the main attention was being drawn to the tight ring of muscles a bit further underneath it. Slowly gliding his hand down one of his thighs, Warp allowed his fingers to draw close to that ring before pushing two of the fingers in there.

Buzz was surprised to see that Warp didn't seem to be in pain at all, in fact quite the opposite. The complete ease of his fingers reaching in and insistently pressing around inside himself seemed to suggest that the shower from before was far more than just 'freshening up', and his needy sounding whining supplemented that beautifully. To Buzz, it looked like Warp was trying to find something there, and he got proven right when Warp's fingers seemed to press against something; triggering a sharp moan from his boyfriend, which was closely followed by a euphoric sounding curse.

"Mm... Craters..." Warp was already beginning to get loud - something that his partner had freshly discovered the previous day - and Buzz could see the now empty shoulder joint trying to turn to cover his own mouth. The metal arm wasn't there though, so he was left with nothing but empty air in front of him, reminding the evil agent that he was still operating a one man show. "...Are you going to join me, or are you going to - Venus! - are you going to stare all solar day?"

The request seemed to snap Buzz out of his voyeuristic role, and he could already feel that Warp's display had done more than be a simple distraction; the sudden tight feeling in his own pants communicated that loud and clear. Not wanting there to be a difference in clothing between them both, Buzz started to remove the clothing on his body. The moment his shirt was off and flung to the side with Warp's metal arm, Buzz could notice the other biting his lip softly with his canines, eagerness clear in his eyes. With further incentives to make him hurry up, Buzz didn't care all that much on how neat the rest of his clothing was; stripping everything off himself, including the ever permanent purple hood that always was on his head.

With himself fully bare along with his partner, Buzz clambered onto the couch next to his partner, carefully turning his legs around so that he could lay completely over the couch if he so chose. He wasn't sure if Warp would later poke fun at the fact that Buzz had instinctively moved him into a missionary style position, but he favoured something that he thought would give Warp more comfort than something else. But even with his erection straining quite a bit (and accidentally pressing into one of Warp's muscly thighs), he wasn't exactly when the 'right' time was to interrupt the other.

"Do you... Do you need some more time, or-

"I'm fine" Warp gave permission, pulling his fingers free from the slick entrance. He had experience with people that went far more towards the painful (it was something that both people had wanted in that endeavour, but Warp correctly guess that it wasn't really Buzz's style), so he knew quite well when was or was not the right time for the next part to come around. Fumbling around on the ground for the object that Buzz had dropped before, he pressed the bottle of lube into the other's hand; reminding Buzz that it likely was still required. Now that he was thinking about it, was Buzz still a virgin?... Somehow, the thought appealed to him, as he would be the very first thought within his mind for another reason.

Buzz liberally applied the lube around his shaft and head, taking the moment to not only give his ignored dick some attention, but to also look over Warp as his breathing seemed to settle after the staggered amount he had from before. Warp's chest rising and falling simply highlighted just how attractive he was to Buzz, as well as spurring on a kind of mischievous nature where he wanted to soon see his partner lose his cool and measured breathing because of his ministrations.

The partner hovering over the other gently drew one of his hands up to stroke the others face, clearly wanting to display a kind of intimate and romantic gesture to the other. Warp's single hand drew upwards to curl softly around the outside of Buzz's, comfortably intertwining with the fingers there, before giving his boyfriend a heart melting smile. With Buzz shifting himself forwards to get into a better position, he gave Warp a kiss as he brought his hips forward, essentially informing the other that he was ready to begin.

Buzz could feel Warp's canines lightly press into his lower lip (ow, those certainly were sharp!) when the head of his partners member press into him, Warp's hand slinking out of their combined grip to find a place to hold onto Buzz's shoulder. Buzz was worried for a second that it was too fast for his partner, but the familiar feel of his partner moaning into their kiss quickly told him otherwise.

Going at a nice and slow pace (it was a little _too_ slow if you were to ask Warp), Buzz eventually found himself fully sheathed inside the other, nestling quite comfortably in the warm walls pressing around him. After waiting a bit to allow his partner to become accustomed to him, Buzz started to shift himself around a bit, trying to find the thing that Warp had been searching for before... He thought that it may have been slightly upwards, but he may be-

"Oh, Luna!" Warp reacted quite sharply to a particular thrust, his high tone and sudden spike in volume telling Buzz that he had found exactly what he was looking for. While it was still a mystery to the space ranger what he exactly had found (he was quite the newbie, as much as he would never want to admit it aloud), he knew that it worked wonders on the man beneath him. Buzz wasn't exactly a cheater in their competitions, that didn't mean that he wasn't going to play a little dirty if it was just for fun. "Yes, right there!"

Then again, he supposed that he likely wouldn't need much more of an indicator about how well he was doing, considering just how much praise the other seemed to be levying on him. With Warp practically singing in ecstasy, it was easy for Buzz to comply by snapping his waist until his skin was snug against the other's.

As for his partner, Warp felt more than a little vulnerable in their position, as he generally was used to still wearing his metal arm (after all, it wasn't like he cared if he scratched some random stranger he had been with in the past). Because Buzz was practically shoving the back of him into the arm rest - like he had promised - he had little choice but to cling onto his partner, loving the way that he could tightly wrap his arm around the other's neck.

With their collective climbs reaching an all-time high, Buzz dipped himself down just a bit to be able to capture Warp's lips in his own. What he hadn't exactly planned for, was the fact that this specific movement had somewhat changed the angle of his thrusts; no longer just brushing against the tight bundle of nerves but practically driving the head of his member directly into it, inadvertently driving his partner over the edge. Warp's body reacted in a familiar way to that feeling, tightening up and spasming heavily with the tidal-wave of euphoria running through him, which in turn caused Buzz to feel everything tighten around his most sensitive body part.

Buzz released his partner’s lips with a startle, hissing a little into Warp's sweat-laden shoulder as his own release shuddered over him. While he had hoped to last longer than Warp (another one of his blasted competitions. One wandered when they ever truly ended), he could quickly tell from the laboured breathing of his boyfriend that continuing with the other in that state would have left the other sore... So he supposed it was a good time as any.

It wasn't just Warp who was out of breath, as Buzz stayed there for a good while longer than he had originally expected while being sheathed in the other. Not only was it far more comfortable to just remain stationary for a while, but the musk of his sweaty partner was both familiar and inviting in equal quantities... The very first memory that sprang to mind about that scent was their sparring from the academy, but he began to wonder how long it would take for those memories to be overridden with new ones.

"Hahh... Mercury, for a virgin I would have imagined that you were far worse. I'd rate you an eight out of ten" Warp's familiar kind of humour resurfaced, and he could easily feel his partner grin into his shoulder and lightly punch his side in a minor form of retribution. They both chuckled stupidly for a second, enjoying the silly atmosphere for a split second longer... It was almost exactly like old times, but better. "...Hey, you remember that time that you claimed that you were stronger than me?"

"Yes?" Buzz tiredly responded, him not even being certain whether he had answered in the form of a question or a statement.

"Well you're going to have to prove it; my waist likely won't co-operate with me, and you made the silly decision to put your shower upstairs of all things"

Buzz snorted into Warp's shoulder, finding it absolutely hilarious what the other was saying. While he would have ignored it for a bit longer, Warp did softly remind him that he hadn't been fibbing about how bad it was to get stains out of leather, and they already had to deal with the spunk that Warp had released from his own orgasm. With Buzz once again softly apologising to his robots for having to clean up after the both of them, the two men managed to make their way to the showers upstairs, before settling into Buzz's bed for a much better night sleep than the lacklustre amount they had gotten the last number of solar days.

And as for Buzz's claim; _yes,_ he could hoist the other up and carry him there.


	7. Buzz Lightyear, Personal Log: Signing Off

As much as it initially stung, Warp kept to his word and returned to his work the following solar day. After a bit of probing and insisting on Buzz's side of things, Commander Nebula eventually relented and allowed him to return to work an entire day before the mandatory end of his shore leave, especially so when the three recruits directly in his team supported it with their testimony that he had been properly taking time off rather than working himself to death.

For an entire solar month, not much seemed to have changed from either man; perhaps the early jitters of actually attempting to make any change. For Warp it was quite understandable, as telling his co-workers and fellow villainous evil-doers about his orientation wouldn't change anything about the situation he was in, so all he could do was nervously wait for the first differences to appear in Star Command. To Buzz's relief, Mira started to champion the movement of changing the particular subsection of the rules herself, which allowed the space ranger to simply slot in as though he was doing nothing more than just supporting her views on it. With Booster and XR shortly joining in, they proudly started to announce their beliefs about how 'everyone with a good heart and a true moral code was welcome within Star Command' to anyone who would hear them.

While unsurprising, it did hurt Buzz to see that the most resistance came from his commanding officer. During one particular instance of butting heads, many people could observe that while the Commander felt quite strongly about his stance on how "wrong" it was to love another alien or human that was the same gender as one another, he never truly had a good reason to supplement his views. With that bit of information underneath his space ranger belt, Buzz simply felt more inclined to press onward, wanting to bring his trusted commander up to speed; to make the older man realise that there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. Nobody could tell whether such a day was actually going to come, but it wouldn't dissuade him from trying anyway.

As several others within Star command started to come around and join their four man movement, Buzz was a little surprised to see that one of them was none other than Ty Parsec; the very cadet (and subsequent space ranger) to get Warp in trouble in the first place. Once he managed to catch a moment alone with his fellow space ranger, Ty told the truth behind the fateful day when he had told Commander Nebula about what he had seen on that Valentine's day... That frankly, he had regretted it immensely. He had gone to his Nebula for nothing more than to try and get some secondary advice on how he was supposed to act around Warp without making their relationship 'weird', and it had surprised him to be told that Nebula would "handle it", before the latter stormed out of the counselling room and left the confused cadet behind.

By the time that Ty had realised that Warp had been treated differently, it was far too late; Ty felt that Warp and Buzz (who Ty thought had already known for a long time about Warp's orientation) would only get mad at him (or be blackmailed just as badly as Warp was, and Ty truly wanted nothing more than to be a good space ranger) if he were tell the truth that he was the whistle-blower. With relief on both sides, Buzz and Ty made up with one another for the misunderstanding between them, and Buzz even gave him something extra to show that he truly cared about the man as a friend; by honouring him to be one of the first in Star Command to know about his newly discovered sexuality. Ty was a little surprised, but was nothing but supportive for the other man.

As for missions that had the crew of Starcruiser number 42 run into the evil agents of Zurg, there wasn't all that much change there. Buzz's teammates could notice with a bit of cheek in their expressions that Buzz would often charge after the evil agent himself if there was no pressing need for him to be elsewhere, so much so that some of the other evil doers started to complain that they never got to fight _the_ Buzz Lightyear anymore. People on both sides could also notice that the two trained specialists had changed their typical fighting of laser fire and rockets into... A suspiciously high amount of full-body tackles, wrestling and pinning the other to some nearby surface (whether it was the floor or wall, it didn't matter). To the majority of people looking on, they didn't really know what the difference could mean.

In fact, the only evil-doer that did notice the difference was Gravitina, as she was quite experienced in love. She could recognise the slight change in their confident grins and banter with one another, swapping from a bull-headed confidence and somewhat sadistic nature to a mischievous and suggestive glint when looking at one another. After some thought, she decided to ultimately keep it to herself. She could completely understand the reason why one may go for Buzz Lightyear; she had done so herself at one point in time after all.

With Buzz returning to work and feeling that bit more comfortable, he truly felt that change could come to Star Command before long. While it certainly felt like it was crawling incredibly slow, change was coming... It just likely wasn't going to get there very soon. Warp hadn't left without leaving behind a secure number for Buzz to call when he felt like it(the space ranger didn't enjoy using the Pirate Cracker 2000 that the evil agent used often, but he did admit that it had its uses), which the space ranger did use occasionally to contact his boyfriend when either he wanted to. Warp found it endlessly endearing that Buzz was raring to go in getting his movement going (he did put one hundred percent into whatever he did after all), and the evil agent always reassured him that there was no such thing as 'going too slow' in terms of progress. The very fact that they were making an effort (and actually getting some positive response from about eighty-percent of the rangers and cadets was going above and beyond) meant a lot to him, and it felt even better to finally feel that even Buzz felt that it was taking too long.

 _"Why can't they understand it's completely fine?"_ or _"Love between others shouldn't be vilified if they are consenting adults"_ seemed to be reoccurring themes coming out of the space rangers mouth, with the kind of impatience that often came from teachers who were trying to teach others the most basic of principles. While the evil agent could understand that it was the initial wave of irritation coming from his partner, it felt right to hear someone else say the same things that had plagued Warp for the longest time. Heck, Warp didn't even mind in the slightest when Buzz's three friends would come in to wave over their leader's shoulder, with stupidly happy grins on their faces at how well the two of them were getting along. Truly, times were changing.

With Star Command having a tidal wave of differing opinions rather than the stale old rules, and with Warp pulling himself just that little bit away from his work (he had earned enough money to practically live in the lap of luxury for the rest of his life), things seemed to be going well for them both. There was one final difference that seemed to strike people as the most odd however; the fact that unlike before, they no longer had to struggle to get Buzz to go on shore leave anymore. Mira, Booster and XR had a strong suspicion why that was, and they weren't going to be spilling the bunzels anytime soon until both men were ready.

It was one of those particular days that Buzz was getting ready to go out to meet his partner, looking in his mirror as he straightened the tie on his formal suit. He didn't often dress up in anything special beyond his space ranger suit, but... Well, what could he say? Warp was special enough to warrant it.

The two of them knew where the other's house was - they had gone over to each other’s houses too many times to forget - but it did feel right (perhaps even poetic) in often seeing each other in that special gay bar, especially because it had been the catalyst for their revelations about themselves (but more importantly, each other). Heading out of the front door with an absolute spring in his step, he found himself enjoying another lovely solar day on his way there.

The very moment he entered into Echo Fibre, he could hear the changed tune floating in the air; it seemed to be a gentle serenade that used to be popular on Rhizome. After giving the expected number of waves and pleasant smiles to the fellow bar-goers, he could spot Warp sitting at the table that he knew so well; the one he truly would call _their_ table.

Warp smiled the moment he saw the other there, even going so far as to rise from his seat to give his partner an affectionate kiss when the other neared the table. Buzz was quite pleased to see that the other was taking things a bit easier than the other times he visited the bar; being dressed up in a sleek fitting black hoodie and comfortable navy blue sweatpants. Their styles of clothing certainly looked like they clashed, but it wasn't any weirder than their differences in the stark white space ranger suit and dark coloured evil agent armour.

"Did you have any trouble?" Warp asked the other, that question often being the first thing to come out of his mouth in regards to whether Buzz had to pry himself free from his work or co-workers. But as it often ended up being, the answer was no; he had no trouble at all. That answer pleased Warp greatly, even if it was simply in the sense that it gave the impression that nothing was more important to Buzz than he was. "Good"

Buzz grinned at him, giving his boyfriend another soft kiss, before the both of them sat down at that familiar old table. The both of them certainly had been through a lot together - equally in terms of good experiences and bad - considering what had happened at the academy and during their fateful mission on that moon so long ago. And even though they didn't quite yet feel comfortable with announcing to the world on how they felt for one another, they certainly were happy with their current situation... Because of course, they'd always have good old Table Number 37.

**The End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all very much for reading this far, and hopefully enjoying this little adventure between our favourite silly space dorks! This show (but more importantly, the pilot movie, which kid me/adult me absolutely loved/s to death) meant so much to me as a kid, and I felt that there was quite the chemistry between these two, so this story is there for me to give these two underappreciated space rangers/mercenaries some love <3  
> If there is any particular criticism you wish to give, then I'm all ears, and I'm even more willing to consider any possible ideas/requests that you may have for future stories to fit into my 'Short but Lemony Sweet' series.  
> Thank you very much, and go out and love people (or lack of love, for my aro/ace people) right! :3


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